“Peace Sign Pentagram,” the title, before you hear a note actually does deliver on the imagery. It’s a gritty, grungy, melodic hard rock song like something you’d expect out of the early 80s. Like a lost Starship and The Cars collaboration before the former went full schlock. Thrown in some Cheap Trick influence and you get the idea. The guitar hooks, the fusion of electronic elements in with the lilting power pop melodies and the dual vocals solidify the impression. As does the story of an ill-fated romance that both parties are looking back on with some sense of hope and intention. There is a touch of nostalgia with memories of driving in the summer which many of did up until after the mid-2010s when it seemed that casual drives for fun in the robust journeys through urban decay and the hinterlands and find some mystique in the experience. And the part of the song where we hear about dreams never realized but still possible we get to the crux of the inherent romantic aspect of the song when our narrators realize that those dreams are attainable even now after some of the romance of being in a band means almost paying more attention to the marketing and promotion than the inherent fun of being in a band and going on adventures, creating music for the joy of it and finding receptive audiences and people part of a larger community. And, indeed, having aspirations that aren’t so fanciful if idealistic. May Seattle’s Smokey Brights find its rock and roll fantasies coming true more fully in the wake of the release of its new album Dashboard Heat on September 26, 2025 via Share It Music. Listen to “Peace Sign Pentagram” on Bandcamp and follow Smokey Brights at the links below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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