Peace are a force to be reckoned with. Their second album is a logical continuation of their 2013 debut In Love: tight, rocking grooves blend seamlessly with catchy choruses. But under the surface, the English quartet strive for something deeper.
In development since November 2013, Happy People is ambitious and, at 18 tracks, arguably a bit bloated. But the excitement and intensity hardly slacken throughout.
Second track ‘Gen Strange’ is the most irresistible rocker here and really kicks the record into high gear. Next up, ‘Lost On Me’, already released as a single, keeps the pedal firmly down, and later standout ‘Blue’ has an Arctic Monkeys swagger.
Elsewhere, mellower, more melancholic numbers like the breezy ‘Someday’ and soulful ‘Under The Moon’ mingle seamlessly with the louder, heavier tracks. ‘Saturday Girl’ is a weird, droning favourite that would sound right at home on a late ‘60s Kinks album.
The centrepiece is ‘World Pleasure’, which the band recently said they almost blew their whole budget on. It’s a long, funky, psychedelic jam complete with strings and thick bass. But the production doesn’t get in the way of the writing, with singer Harry Koisser dryly and humorously delivering lines like, “Please don’t send me off to war/ that’s not what my body’s for/ maybe I was not born brave/ maybe I was born good looking.”
The album is rife with dark humour, with the band going after good old 21st century materialism and vanity in comical and self-deprecating ways on tracks like ‘Money’, ‘Perfect Skin’ and ‘Fur’. The big, critical ideas at play on Happy People will reward multiple close listens. Above all, it’s a rollicking record to spend a little time with.

Key Track - 'Gen Strange'