Additional Details

Additional details

Been Together Since: 2006

Sounds Like: An angry computer venting frustration through violent acts.

Members

F.Y.~I.A.A.M -- turnables
Ramon Wakefield -- guitar
Darian Fleming -- bass
Jamescayn Whitecloud -- vocals
Nathan Matthews -- drums
Tony Roopa -- programming, guitar, bass

MP3S

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Subtleties

Audio Interview

Discography

Red Stars EP, 2006
Sy~3nc3 & Pr()gr@m5, 2008

More

• 29-95's favorite Houston albums of the decade, part two

Where To Buy

• iTunes

Review

There are a couple of hurdles to enjoying Peekaboo Theory's debut full-length album. First, its title: Sy~3nc3 & Pr()gr@m5. When you don't know what to call something ("Sync & Program?"), it's awful hard to tell friends how much you like it. Then again, this dance-rock band prefers to take a circuitous route when a straight path would have been fine. But then it would have been "fine" when it could have been "transcendent," which is clearly what the band is going for with all of its trance interludes, which is the disc's second hurdle.

It isn't that the electronic noodling is unlikable -- a hurdle isn't an insurmountable thing -- but it can grow tedious on some of the longer songs on the hour-long disc.

Hurdles out of the way, Sy~3nc3 & Pr()gr@m5 is a very likable album when it stays tight. Peekaboo Theory buzzes with energy, its six members cobbling together a masterpiece with strokes of indie-rock (Hyphen), hard-rock (Immediate Hesitation) and noise-rock (Children of Oblivion), each glazed with soulful vocals and beats and squiggles that fade in and out of each song.

Some of the longer, meandering songs -- Cataclysm, The Angels Cried -- only take a few listens before they creep into your muscles and you start to slide in your chair and forget whatever it was that you were worrying about. They aren't the catchiest tunes on the disc, but they help to create a push-and-pull/hurry-up-and-relax nature to the collection that adds satisfying complexity.

A couple tracks -- Not Ready, The Exact Same Time As the Moon -- will be familiar to those who have followed the band for a while; they appeared on a 2006 EP, Red Stars, albeit punched up. Those are still great songs and join the previously mentioned tracks as the strongest on the album.

You can listen to the entire album on Radio 29-95 Thursday at noon.

-- Sara Cress | May 2009

Recognition comes slowly for some bands, trickling down from the heavens one success at a time. But for electronic rock band Peekaboo Theory, it has only taken one year to go from introductions to an invitation to play at this year's SXSW Music festival in Austin. It's no surprise that the band is pretty excited.

``In every band I've ever been in, [SXSW is] what we talked about,'' says singer James Cayn. ``It was more like, `Wouldn't it be cool to go watch some bands at SXSW?' Not that we would be in it.''

Fitting for a band that has only been around a year, bassist Darian Fleming, aka K-Walla, and guitarist/vocalist Ramon Wakefield, aka Ramgoat, share his enthusiasm.

Get these guys talking about their music, though, and the wide eyes disappear. These are confident and full of heady speeches about their originality and their righteous outrage at popular music.

``Part of what brought us together is that we were all individually jaded about where music was,'' says turntablist Ulyses Barroso, aka F.Y.~I.A.A.M.. ``I was like, `There's nothing good out right now. Everything I like is from ten years ago.' And these guys else felt the same way.''

Unlike some boasters, Peekaboo Theory, which also includes Tony Payne (aka Roopa) on guitar and keys and Nathan Matthews (aka Kid Twist) on drums, is actually pretty original. It makes eclectic dance-rock with chants, beats, and passionate singing that lends each tune a warmth and soul that some dance-rock bands lack.

``I don't think we set out to do something different, I think we are different,'' Cayn says.

When prompted for a band that Peekaboo Theory can all agree on, Radiohead is quick to the members' lips. Rage Against the Machine, Bloc Party and Mars Volta tumble out, too. But they stress that they shake off comparisons, especially when they are fueled by skin color.

``Whenever I tell people that I'm in a band,'' Cayn adds, ``they're like, `Is that rap? Hip-hop?' I'm actually in a rock band. I don't even like to say ``rock.'' We're using instruments that make those sounds and if people want to relate it to rock, cool.''

Peekaboo Theory has a 4-song EP under its belt, Red Stars, and is at work on a full-length that it expects to release by the middle of this year. But the band's immediate focus is putting on a great show at SXSW and getting out of Houston to tour.

``We expect to have a great time, meet some cool people and hopefully we'll get some attention,'' Cayn says. ``We're ready to go on tour, see some other cities, get our name out there.''

-- Sara Cress | March 15, 2007