The Parson Red Heads

Arrrgh, you guys, I love The Parson Red Heads. It's rare that I go and see a band I've never heard before and leave totally in luuuurve, but boy howdy it happened last night. I'm really terrible at putting music into genres, so let's say....vintage pop? There are six of them, and one fellow's job is just to play tambourine (which pretty much makes me want to marry the whole band). I suppose I should also use the word "folk" to describe them. The last few years it seems that any other band that could be described as such had to have the word "psych" or "experimental" or something tacked in front of it, so it's refreshing to hear TPRH play fantastic, classic folk pop. Seriously, this band is so good they could be Swedish. They're on a little west coast tour right now, go see them if you can. You can check out the tour dates, befriend them, and listen to some more of their songs here on their myspace. This is good weekend music. - fabulist.org

From the band’s bio; Originally from Oregon, they all packed their bags and headed south when they heard the call to do so. They have now brought Los Angeles a unique brand of 60’s rock/psychedelic/folk music, with hint of indie pop - full of 4 part harmonies, jangly guitar leads, and dance-able, tambourine-tinged rhythms It is music that is half happy, and half sad. But even when it’s happy, you have to think: “Is this sad?” and even when it is sad, you have to think: “Is this happy?” Apt description to give you an idea where the bands sound lays. Field Mouse Carnival is an impressive 5 track ep, that will appeal to a broad range of music fans. Very bubbly with folkish undertones. “My Head Is Bursting” begins the ep with a cute acapella track featuring helium fed female vocals. “Punctual As Usual” is the star of the show, having the bass and guitar lines that will make you think of classic college alt. rock bands, and harmonies that sounds like a soundtrack to an afternoon spent on Santa Monica beach. “Burning Up The Sky” is more of a quiet folk tune, that has the dreaminess of Iron & Wine and picks up the pace towards the end with a fun piano outro. “Different Sound” is a charming acoustic number, brings to mind Art Garfunkel playing in a modern day indie folk pop band. The ep closes out with “Speed Trials” (nope not a cover of Elliott Smith’s song of the same name), a slow song that is straight up folk, but does feature dreamy melodies that brings to mind some Mojave 3. Field Mouse Carnival is a promising debut EP that displays an impressive ability by the Parson Red Heads to combine their folkish sounds with memorable pop melodies. Recommended. - lunapark6.com

Last Monday I kind of randomly decided to go out and see what was shaking with the various Monday night residencies in town. I did two things that were very uncharacteristic for me, the first was going out alone and the second was going to see a band that I had never even heard of. The first band I saw that night is in residency now at the Silverlake Lounge and are called The Parson Red Heads.
Now, I work in "the music industry" and go to see a ton of shows, if there is a show going on I've normally at least heard the bands name mentioned in some context or another. Some of the bands that I WANT to go see don't end up being so great, so I can't say I expect a lot when I go to see something I haven't even heard of. The Parson Red Heads not only left me impressed but I left the venue humming one of their songs and wanting to hear more. The band consists of five kids from Oregon who've since all relocated to LA. If I were to describe them in just a word, I'd have to choose "charming." I took a moment to talk with them a little bit about what they're up to, where they're going and, of course, why you should be at the Silverlake Lounge on Monday nights in March. Talking to them, you can't help but realize they're all not just exceptionally happy playing music together, but they're exceptionally happy just hanging out together. Although they don't all live in a studio apartment together (anymore) they all live together in some way or another and have been friends since way back in at least high school. The band was started by Evan Way (he writes the songs and has the beard), he's joined by his girlfriend Brette Marie Gentry (who drums and who I SO almost had a shot with before she stomped my heart into the ground), his sister Erin Way (who when she isn't playing keyboards and tambourines you'll soon see on television as the face of 7up), Thom Shelton (he handles the guitar and the floppy hair), and Dane Gerrard (who plays bass and does a lot of the cleaning.)

Musically, they sound like a band that listens to a lot of pop from the 60's. Think The Zombies with way more tambourines (oh the harmonies!), or maybe if The Byrds were an indie-pop band today. Following in the footsteps of their 60's influence they're not dropping the most complex riffs or anything, but you'd never guess that many of the band members learned how to play their instrument based on what the band needed when they joined. One of the more striking (and endearing) things about the band is its harmonies. Both Brette Marie and Erin supply some sweet sweet harmonizing to Evan's lead vocalizing. Slap that into the jangly guitars and slightly bouncy folk-pop songs (with a few catchy slow numbers in there for good measure) and I have to say I'm sold. The thing that amazed me most when I saw them play last Monday wasn't just that they played a few catchy songs, but they played almost ALL catchy songs. I kept waiting for one of them to not really strike me, but repeatedly each new song made me want to wrap myself up in it. I left the Silverlake Lounge humming one of their songs and pretty convinced that I'd be back on next Monday. I implore you all to drop by the Silverlake Lounge tonight and see that I'm right. The Parson Red Heads go on at 11 and are preceded by The Lovetones and Expatriate (both from Australia, c'mon ladies plenty of accents to go around) and followed by The Quarterafter.
Let's hit it all condensed-style now:
The Parson Red Heads
In a word, they're charming.
With five words they say that there'll be rockin' with lots of sweet harmonies and tambourine banging, they'll be wearing white (it's what they do), and most importantly they're full of love. How can you resist that? - blogging.la

Seven white-outfit clad individuals flooded the stage next with their plethora of equipment. The Parson Red Heads were a highly likeable group of musicians that falls into the same kind of pop-indie-folk genre of harmonizing duet vocals (my favorite). They seemed to be some sort of hybrid between The Brunettes and Okkervil River. With some fine-tuning, they will easily become very popular in the coming years. Each member had something to add the dynamic and presence of the group, which was quite delightful. I could not get the idea of Fred from Scooby Doo out of my head every time I looked at the bassist; furthermore, the drummer was an adorable spectacle that constantly looked so intent on not making a mistake, but she did a wonderful job. The most entertaining bandmates had to be the two percussionists that were the most enthused individuals I have seen in a very long time that simply displayed the nowadays, overlooked aspect of music, that is - just having a great time. They were a wonderful group that made you want to dance and sing along to all their songs.
- icrecreamman.com