Review: Pepper Rabbit – Beauregard

Pepper Rabbit
Beauregard
Kanine

If Beauregard makes one thing clear, it’s that Xander Singh and Luc Laurent—AKA Pepper Rabbit—know a thing or two about musical arrangements. From the album’s opening clarinet notes to the horn-laden closing track, Beauregardweaves a myriad of orchestral instrumentation into the band’s core avant-garde reverb-heavy sound that lies in the vein of Grizzly Bear and Fleet Foxes.

The Animal Collective-esque “Song for a Pump Organ” is lush, swirling organ ballad with a hypnotic vocal melody overtop a slow bass and kick drum stomp. The band switches instruments, however, in nearly every song: “In the Spirit of Beauregard” opens with an accordion and piano duet, and then evolves into a sort of cut-time circus jig before erupting into a soaring chorus with a vocal melody that smacks of David Bowie. Yet despite the diverse instrumental orchestration and arrangements, Pepper Rabbit manages to keep a coherent sound throughout the album.

In the ocean of reverb-obsessed guitar bands fighting for attention these days, Pepper Rabbit stands out from the crowd by infusing organic timbres into the very foundations of the compositions. The songs are haunting soundscapes, the instrumentation is beautiful and the sound is calculated without sounding forced. Deservedly, Beauregard is already turning some heads in the industry, and hopefully Pepper Rabbit’s upcoming tour dates with Freelance Whales, Passion Pit and Ra Ra Riot will garner them the serious attention they deserve.

John Granofsky

First published in Flagpole 8 Dec. 2010: 21. pdf