Austin Sound

Peel’s eponymous debut was easily one of the best local releases of last year, shambling and slacker certified to perfection. The quintet has proven equally energetic and ramshackled live, Josh Permenter thrusting his guitar into the amps with distorted bliss while Dakota Smith and Allison Moore bounce about the stage in a poppish delight. The group’s new EP, August Exhaust Pipes, which will only be available at their shows, explodes with an even more lo-fi exuberance. The five songs feel joyously careless, the home recording sounding, for better or worse, like a demo. The title track picks up the banter in the background and “Trenchula” seems to even catch the mics being bumped around. In the hands of most bands, it would probably be considered a sloppy and half-assed set-up; for Peel, the intentionally loose aesthetic is the entire point.