Parker Street Cinema “Music, In The Blood” (Abandoned Love 2007)
Often times when a music reviewer receives albums in the mail for consideration, said records will come with a press release. And more often than not, those one-sheets come equipped with a “recommended if you like” section where the PR person dutifully lists of bands that have sometimes nothing in common with the very release it’s touting. And get this list that comes with Parker Street Cinema’s new album, you ready?:
“R.i.Y.L.: Crime In Choir, Pinback, Don Cabellero, Explosions In The Sky, Faith No More, The Bad Plus, Philip Glass“.
What? So it’s gonna be sort of a staccato indie-rock group with unpredictable time signatures, expansive soundscapes, a vocalist that transcends what human vocal cords were designed to do while utilizing a progressive-minded jazzy pianist that has a penchant for the avant-garde side of things? Wow. Color me intrigued.
So, I pop on the enclosed album, Music, In The Blood only to find out… well, damn, besides the Faith No More reference, that seemingly ragtag list of bands are actually pretty accurate jumping-off points for understanding Parker Street Cinema. Okay, and maybe Philip Glass is pushing it a bit too, but hey… what do I know?
PSC’s mostly instrumental album is very, very expansive, it’s true. And yeah, the large breadth of musical tapestry enclosed in the forty-one digital minutes of Music, In The Blood is every bit of a journey as a good film you’d see at the theatre. You’re never sure where the trio is going to take you. For example, until carefully studying the liner notes, I could have sworn that the crunchy waves of strings on “Blood Music” were that of an average yet well-tempered six-string electric guitar. Boy, was I wrong. It’s all Kevin Dick knowing how to use his bass guitar for textures that you’d not expect to come out of one. Dig the underlying melody he’s laying down behind the colorful piano washes of Brian Glover in the second half of “These Precious Seconds” for reference.
The tracks always end up somewhere totally different from where one’d think they were being led. After the stop/start begining of “Blackhole B Flat”, you just sort of expect the song to plunder along and build to a suitably loud crashing, finale, right? Nope… instead the band finds time to mellow out and ruminate on the silence between the notes, eventually hitting on some crazy time-signature changes, (with what sounds like some unintrusive screaming wayyy off in the background), until eventually returning to it’s original them when it’s the least predictable time to do so.
Speaking of vocals, the only time that they become a focal point is on the track “Something About The Audience”, where you’ll find sample of Bukowski’s “The Soldier, His Wife & The Bum”. Of course, this isn’t listed anywhere in the liner notes, you just kinda have to know of it, I suppose. But really, the crux of the album is the closing “Parking Ticket Patriot”, which comes complete with a swelling brass section that steals the show from Ken Mahru’s uber-syncopated percussion and ends the album on a really nice note.
Good album, good band, good record label. You can’t go wrong with this one, folks.
Parker Street Cinema’s Music, In The Blood is out on 12/04 on Abandoned Love. Buy it here!