A name like the Peach Tree Rascals is something that definitely sticks in your head, and this band is sure to stick around in the music industry. The Peach Tree Rascals, or Isaac Pech (vocals), Tarrek Abdel-Khaliq (vocals), Joseph Barros (vocals/guitar), Dominic Pizano (producer/mixer), and Jorge Olazaba (creative director), initially met in high school. When Pech moved into town his sophomore year and began creating and passing out CDs, the rest of the group became intrigued.
One by one, they each started to explore their own musical strengths. Three years after graduating, the friend group finally felt confident enough in their skills to form a legitimate band and start releasing music, releasing their first single “Glide” in 2018. In 2019, they released their single “Mariposa”, which would go viral on TikTok, eventually being used for over 1.6 million videos. This hit single brought them more into the main spotlight and eventually led to their feature on Spotify’s New Music Friday.
The band is fairly new to the musical scene and thus has only released two albums – Camp Nowhere (2021) and Love, The Rascals (2024). They also have a lot of singles that they released separately, so the listening doesn’t have to stop there.
Camp Nowhere is warm, upbeat, and really fun to listen to. Much like the album cover would suggest, the songs inside are vibrant and intriguing. For those of you that have heard their hit single, I consider “Mariposa” a stylistic precursor to Camp Nowhere, so if you liked it I would recommend checking this album out. Many of their songs feature both rap and regular vocals, but they back their raps with acoustic guitar in a way that blends it seamlessly with the indie pop-rock vibe of the song. The group vocals on the backtrack also soften the edges of their songs and help combine their stylistic influence.
Love, The Rascals is more bold than Camp Nowhere and reflects the band’s confidence in their musical style. This album is less upbeat, more mellow, and features more prominent rap sections. The string arrangements on this disc are more noticeable and really nice to listen to. Because a lot of Love, The Rascals pieces are slower, they feature less lyrics, which make them almost poetic in a sense. While both albums are great additions to your playlist, I would say Camp Nowhere is for those of you more into mainstream pop and upbeat indie, while Love, The Rascals is for lofi-indie lovers
My Top Ten:
- “Lately I” (Love, The Rascals)
- “JoJo” (Camp Nowhere)
- “Mango”
- “Oh Honey! (I Love You)” (Camp Nowhere)
- “Mariposa”
- “HIGHWITCHA” (Love, The Rascals)
- “Change My Mind” (Camp Nowhere)
- “Let U Go” (Does A Fish Know It’s Wet?)
- “My Favorite Sweater” (End of Time)
- “Come Around” (Peach Tree Rascals)
For fans of Claire Rosinkranz, The Backseat Lovers, TV Girl, and Wallows.
