By Eleni P. Austin
The Parson Red Heads have been together nearly 10 years, but they have only released two full-length studio albums. The band, (Evan Way, guitar and vocals, Charlie Hester bass, Sam Fowles guitar and Brette Marie Way, drums and vocals) formed in Oregon and relocated to Los Angeles.
As indicated by their name, the band is clearly influenced by Country-Rock progenitor Gram Parsons. They also soaked up the sounds of other L.A. touchstones like the Byrds, Love, Buffalo Springfield and the Negro Problem.
Making their bones as a live act, they gigged throughout the city, setting up residencies at venues like the Echo and Spaceland. The energy from their performances was so infectious, other musicians felt compelled to join them. Sometimes as many as 15 musicians were crowded onstage expanding their joyous noise.
Their first recorded efforts arrived in 2007, an EP, Field Mouse, a full-length, King Giraffe and a live album, Spaceland Presents: The Parson Red Heads [at The Echo].Another EP, Owl And Timber appeared in 2008, and their second album, Yearling was released in 2011.
Both King Giraffe and Yearling were precise and meticulous. The latter was produced by Mitch Easter and Chris Stamey. The duo started off in the seminal Power Pop band the Sneakers. Later, Stamey formed the db’s and Easter gained notoriety through Drive-In Studio, the recording facility he set up in his parents’ garage. During the 80s, Easter produced milestone records for R.E.M., Suzanne Vega, Marshall Crenshaw and Game Theory. He also fronted his own Power Pop trio, Let’s Active.
Parson Red Heads recently returned to Portland, Oregon and started production on their third record, Orb Weaver. In interviews they have explicitly stated that instead of crafting a perfect gem in the studio, the band wanted to recreate the “improvisational bombast” that characterized their live sets.
Orb Weaver opens with a brief, bucolic (and untitled) instrumental. But the album really kicks into gear with “To The Sky.” Rubbery bass lines connect with a tick-tock rhythm. Kaleidoscopic guitar riffs thread through an aural tapestry.
Evan Way and his wife Brette Marie share a sweet & sour vocal chemistry that echoes Marty Balin and Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane. The lyrics ponder existential dilemmas like “How do you know if it’s real if it’s not even there?/How do you know if it’s real if you’re not even sure that you care?”
The Power Pop vibe is ever present on three tracks, “Every Mile,” “Runs Out” and Small Change.” On “Every Mile,” pounding percussion and serpentine guitar riffs snake through a sinuous melody. The lyrics offer some cutting words for Los Angeles…“Why would I stay in a place where there is no soul/ Used to think it was my only savior, losing my mind just to find some favor/Gave everything I had but it needed more.”
The guitar on “Runs Out” veers from sharp and spare licks to a ringing jingle-jangle. The lyrics are cryptically philosophical..“I never thought about the truth of what is real, like it was something we could know/ All of my understanding stops at what I feel, ‘bout where we are one day we’ll go, meanwhile all the time in the world runs out.”
Short and sweet, “Small Change” is anchored by tilt-a-whirl guitar riffs and pummeling drums. Suddenly the track switches gears and re-focuses on sparkling vocal interplay, recalling the ‘60s Sunshine Pop of Free Design or the Partridge Family (or real life Partridge Family doppelgangers the Cowsills).
The lush and ethereal harmonies displayed on both “Beginning” and “I Never Sleep” verge on beatific. On the former, strummy acoustic, and soaring electric guitars cushion the languid melody.
Despite the hook-filled arrangement, the latter track is cloaked in regret… “I remember when we smoked that cigarette, while we walked to your car, now I don’t know where you are/We lived in a daze, we worked jobs we got paid, I never slept and I haven’t started yet.”
The best tune here is “Times.” Powered by taut economical riff-age, slinky bass runs, a kick drum beat and shimmery keys, the melody slowly unfurls. The relaxed intricacy recalls both the Bob Welsh and Buckingham/Nicks era of Fleetwood Mac. Its equal parts “Mystery To Me-Meets-Tusk!”
Evan Way has written most of the songs here, but Sam Fowles’ contribution is the standout track, “Borrow Your Car.” As sung by Fowles, the song combines pensive lyrics, and a Byrdsy guitar break. The angular melody feels like a sideways homage to Big Star.
The album closes with “Give Yourself Away.” A countrified charmer, accented by soulful intertwined guitars, diminished piano chords and burnished harmonies. The lyrics are a study in romantic disappointment.
Orb Weaver was produced by Scott McCaughey. Best known as front man for smartass Seattle Punk Pop favorites The Young Fresh Fellows, (an on again/off again band since 1984). McCaughey was also been a touring member of R.E.M. from the late 80s until the band’s demise in 2011. He also played with Peter Buck in the Minus 5 and with Buck and eccentric British singer-songwriter, Robyn Hitchcock in the Venus 3.
While Orb Weaver doesn’t reach the shambolic heights of the Parson Red Heads’ live sets, it manages to showcase the band’s Cosmic American influences. Somewhere Gram Parsons is smiling…..
