NYC-based math rock trio Peaer return with their new single, “Just Because.” It’s their first new offering since 2019’s A Healthy Earth, which earned raves from critics. A drop-tuned, four-on-the-floor thumper that crescendos with a moment of headbanging catharsis, the track is a perfect blend of Wish-era The Cure’s glittery rhythms and the melancholic post-rock emo of American Football.
Peaer’s primary songwriter Peter Katz explains, “This song is about how relationships change over time. Often without us realizing it. Often without us even really trying to change. It happens ‘just because.’”
Peaer began in earnest in 2014, when Katz sought to blend his love of windy math rock with contemplative slowcore. From this sprang 2014’s lo-fi, home-recorded album the eyes sink into the skull, released digitally via Bandcamp with Katz taking on all of the instrumentation himself. From there the idea of Peaer evolved, and while touring on 2016’s self-titled LP, Katz joined forces with now long-term close-collaborators Jeremy Kinney (drums, engineering) and Thom Lombardi (bass, vocals). The trio came together to write and produce 2019’s aforementioned, critically acclaimed A Healthy Earth, which they quickly followed up with The Hands and Feet Turn Blue (2019) — an Eyes companion album featuring reworked songs, demos, and remixes.
When the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to their touring plans, Peaer spent the time in between evolving and refining new material. Throughout this period, the band stayed committed to their core tenets: crafting technically proficient yet accessible music and remaining a potent live act that has shared stages with bands like Wednesday, Pinegrove, Why Bonnie, Horse Jumper of Love, Spirit of the Beehive, and more.
“Just Because” is the fruit of their focus — a soaring introduction to Peaer’s new era and a tantalizing promise of what else lies ahead.
Are you rocking with this one?
