The Parson Red Heads - Orb Weaver
Label.........................: Fiesta Red
Genre.........................: Indie
StoreDate.....................: Oct-01-2013
Source........................: CDDA
Grabber.......................: Exact Audio Copy (Secure Mode)
Encoding Scheme...............: Lame 3.98.4 V0 VBR Joint-Stereo
Size..........................: 81.83 MB
Total Playing Time............: 45:33
Release Notes:
While working on their third album, Orb Weaver, the Parson Red Heads
weren╞t interested in taking their time. In fact, they were dead set
against it. Having released a painstakingly handcrafted LP in 2011╞s
Yearling, the band had established a mode of meticulousness. On Orb
Weaver, the focus on recreating the improvisational bombast of their
live show was stage center, resulting in flashes of sun-stroked auditory
maelstroms and expansive blotter-pop Americana previously missing from
the band╞s recordings.
Over a nine-year career that╞s seen the band form in Oregon, then move
to Los Angeles for nearly six years∙where they were influential in a
burgeoning music Silver Lake scene still seduced by the specters of Love
and Buffalo Springfield∙the now Portland-based Parsons have established
a well-deserved reputation as an uninhibited live group.
As vocalist/guitarist Evan Way explains, Orb Weaver was all about
bottling that energy into one explosively off-the-cuff record.
⌠We╞ve always made records that were more thought-out,÷ says Way. ⌠When
we play live, we play more like a rock band. We wanted to show that more
aggressive side of us, the more rock-oriented side.÷
Producer Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5) was all-too-happy to steer the
ship when it came to capturing the album╞s spontaneity.
⌠The band had a vision for the record before we started,÷ says
McCaughey. ⌠A few songs took some exciting and possibly unplanned turns,
but it all fit into the whole that we'd imagined.÷
⌠[Scott] was great about being very vocal and honest, saying, µDon╞t
ditch that, it has character and that makes it way cooler,╞÷ adds Way.
The song ⌠Lost Again÷ was originally a demo Way had discarded for
contention to make the album. McCaughey, struck by the tune, suggested a
different angle and encouraged the group to record it right away with a
new and still very foreign arrangement. With Brette Marie Way∙Evan╞s
wife and The Parsons╞ vocalist/ drummer∙providing typically dynamic
harmonies, the result speaks volumes of the immediacy of Orb Weaver.
It╞s a gorgeously sprawling composition, replete with reverbed guitar
squalls and a saccharine-sweet melody that╞s belied only by its sly
psych fringes.
⌠Borrow Your Car,÷ a breakneck power-pop scorcher penned and sung by
guitarist Sam Fowles, ushers in the kind of fiery tune expected from The
Parsons╞ live show, Fowles and bassist Charlie Hester forming
interlocking melodic runs that strike out toward Nick Lowe terrain.
Interestingly, McCaughey and The Parsons╞ only other collaboration
before Orb Weaver was recording Lowe╞s ⌠Don╞t Lose your Grip on Love÷
for Lowe Country, a compilation of country-tinged Lowe covers released
on Fiesta Red Records.
⌠Times÷ begins with all the minimalist groove of Fleetwood Mac╞s
⌠Dreams,÷ opening up only after Way croons, ⌠I try to turn my back on
you/but I forget to tell my heart,÷ then moves into their oft-cited
harmonic telepathy with The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Despite the modest homage to their influences, the Parson Red Heads are
a band forging their own musical identity with each new album.
⌠More and more of the personality of the band itself has come together
because we╞re comfortable,÷ explains Way. ⌠Everybody is settling into
their roles; it╞s a natural result of playing a ton together.÷
Tracklisting
01. Arcish T 0:19
02. To The Sky 5:58
03. Every Mile 3:05
04. Borrow Your Car 2:59
05. Runs Out 3:36
06. Latigo 3:16
07. Lost Again 2:13
08. Small Change 0:36
09. Beginning 6:16
10. I Never Sleep 4:04
11. Times 5:52
12. Give Yourself Away 7:19
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