a1404303901_10It’s easy for the music of today’s bedroom artists to get lost in the ever growing sea of same sounding home recordings and lo-fi rock. With so many emerging artists releasing amazing material from home studios, it becomes essential for an artist to capture and display a sound that feels uniquely their own in order to stand out. Pleasantly on his album Free Music Zone (via OSR), New Yorker Peter Kirsch does exactly that, delivering to us an album with a defined sound that fits well into its genre without feeling held back by it. Free Music Zone plays out like Peter Kirsch’s own personal take on various rock styles, from 50s doo-wop rock on “Department Guy” to 90s grunge on “Shy Anne”. Yet while the influences of other styles are present here, Free Music Zone sounds clearly like Peter Kirsch’s own well-thought out creation.

The standout element here is the prominent usage of Peter Kirsch’s own voice not just as a means to deliver lyrics, but as a means to either emphasize or create the melody of each track. Every song on Free Music Zone features several “ooos”, “ahhs”, and “do-doos” to either create the main hook of the song or, as seen on songs like “The Computer Ideology”, used in place of where an electric guitar riff may be expected. This refusal to let the vocals be drowned out by the music feels both deliberate and necessary, and on songs like “Na Na Na Na”, whose only lyrics are- you guessed it- the phrase “na na”, it becomes quite charming. Thematically, Peter Kirsch’s actual lyrics center on simple everyday things, such as riding the train or drinking orange juice for “all the vitamins you need”. Indeed, never showy and never dull, Free Music Zone stands consistently entertaining and uniquely genuine.

Cereal Pairing: Frosted Mini Wheats (something healthy with a bit of sweetness for you)