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April 24, 2009 - According to John Christopher Martin, the band The Peekers "started out as four friends just wanting to escape" and make music together. Now six members strong, the Shreveport, Louisiana-based group makes delightfully nostalgic and utterly charming pop music that combines the members' varying musical backgrounds and talents. Though Martin says that the band's name was initially chosen on the sly, they decided to stick with it. "It's not a loaded name," says Martin, "It's a chameleon to us, since it doesn't mean anything, it could mean anything."

The Peekers do not have one sole songwriter. Instead, Martin, Maddox, and Stephens each write a selection, which makes their debut LP, Life in the Air, diverse. Since so many members of The Peekers are talented singers, vocal duties also often rotate and sometimes culminate in high-energy, feel-good choruses a la Bodies of Water or a slightly truncated version of The Polyphonic Spree. The group vocals shine on "Gather It All" in particular, which also features a dramatic range of tempos.

According to Martin, some of the songs on Life in the Air are first takes while others were slowly crafted, which gives the album the advantage of being both natural and sonically complex. Though Martin did not divulge too much information about the group's future plans, he did reveal that the group is currently working on putting together a "sci-fi fantasy rock opera about some salt-miner who live on a deserted mountain top."

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