Score: 3/5 
English indie rock quartet Peace gained critical acclaim for its freshman album “In Love.” Two years later, the band returns with a new album, “Happy People,” but it’s unclear if this new collection of music will evoke the desired emotion in listeners.
When it released its first album in 2013, Peace received rave reviews from multiple platforms including the British national newspaper The Guardian who even labeled the band as “most likely to be considered the future of indie.” That being said, with the release of “Happy People,” Peace was not able to hold on to those accolades any longer. This new album just isn’t up to par.
“Happy People” is a basic 10-track album but one could also purchase a deluxe edition with extra tracks from singles and previous works released. The problem with this album is not that the music is necessarily bad, there’s just nothing particularly special or noteworthy about it.
Peace is definitely an indie rock band with a more emphasis on rock. Many of the tracks on “Happy People” can lean too heavily towards an angry, chaotic sound. At other times, it simply relies on the basic constructs of a typical indie rock band these days. The songs are simply vanilla and lack the emotion that used to be behind their older works.
The music is not in any way unpalatable. It’s a lesser version of other indie rock bands such as The Vaccines or Palma Violets, who have more experience. Tracks such as “Imaginary,” “Perfect Skin,” “I’m a Girl” and “Saturday Girl” are all worth a listen as they differ from a lot of the other songs on the record.
It’s safe to say Peace fell victim to a second album slump and “Happy People” just could not stand up to the grandeur of the album before it. Perhaps with stronger lyrics or more original beats this album would have garnered more acclaim.
It’s not awful, but it’s just not as great as the band can be. Hopefully Peace will use this mishap to regain its voice and crank out a third album worthy of the press it used to have.