Police and Pea’s Debut Album Strikes a Chord With Chinese Youth

On June 30, Police and Pea — aka Violent Champagne (暴力香槟) — released their first album titled I Want an Authentic Tail under the Beijing label Maybe Mars, a large indie music producer in China.

Difficult to classify, each of the 12 tracks has its own unique style and background story. Proving that creativity knows no bounds, the band derived inspiration from folklore, ghost stories, mundane life experiences like online shopping, and food such as potatoes and dumplings.

Police and Pea, who refuse to label themselves or limit their style to a specific music genre, are known for their authentic, unpolished music. And the new album promises a whole range of new and diverse sounds.

Like many fledgling musicians, the band members began making music at home and have branded themselves ‘bedroom musicians.’ I Want an Authentic Tail marks their first professionally-recorded album in a studio.

As a lead-up to the album drop, the band released two tracks titled ‘Pineal Gland’ and ‘Forever’ over the past two months.

The former opens with lyrics about online shopping experiences before describing supernatural ghost sightings. Shot around Shijiazhuang, the track’s music video (see above) depicts the musicians dance-exercising in a park and lounging around their home in pajamas — a casual blend of random, everyday experiences that encapsulate their style.

The artists’ proclivity for the arbitrary is, in fact, why audiences relate to them. Both the band and their music have struck a chord with Chinese youth who consider themselves ‘outsiders’ grappling with the world’s forces.

“Police and Pea’s new album really appeals to me. It’s rough, clumsy, yet sincere. They are like the shabby neighbors who lived next door when I was a child. They look strange but give me a sense of security (a strange metaphor),” reads a comment on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo.

All images via Weibo