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 Support The Artists, Buy Their Music....