"Peaches" remains LA duo In The Valley Below's (vocalist and guitarist Jeffrey Jacob Mendel and vocalist and keyboard player Angela Gail Mattson) best known single - a perfect example of their aptitude for catchy male-female harmonies and a sonic pallette that draws heavily from '80s synth pop sounds without wearing down contemporary listeners with too much nostalgia. Huffington Post ranked in no. 5 on its list of the top 54 songs of 2014, while Noisey ranked it the 17th track of the year for 2013.
The melodies on the track (based by the kind of lyricism you can easily sing along to) are definitely earworm-y, even if the content of the verses are rather dark and unusual:
'I've been working on my knees baby it's alrightEverybody got disease maybe it's alright
You can steal from me baby that's just fineYou can say it's free baby that's alright'
Lyrics: MetroLyrics
As POPMatters Zachary Houle notes, however, The Belt (2014) "is a tad on the dark side, [but] there’s also a bountiful sense of optimism". The track's universal appeal lies in the transition from grotesque depths to uplifting heights (aided by precise drum machines and strategic synths), as Mendel and Mattson harmonize beautifully to belt out the carpe diem-themed chorus:
'Working on a feelingBreaking down the ceilingDigging up a deep endFreezing on the beachesReaching for the sweetest, sweetest peaches
We won't live too longSo let's love for one songThe lion won't lay downWhen the holy man's in town'
