Parkas

Way less twee than any of their new label-mates, London, Ontario’s Parkas deliver the sort of debut full-length effort that anyone who has seen the quartet’s notoriously tight, rock solid live show would expect. Though gifted players to a man, the band’s spot-on harmonies play a starring role on many of the ten tracks here, no more so than the heavy, partly a cappella "Every Light Is Red.” Like slightly more muscular country-cousins of the Super Friendz, the Parkas craft extremely catchy melodic rock numbers that conjure classic pop elements without being derivative of anything in particular, while maintaining a confident, indie rock swagger. Like most discs recorded by Andy Magoffin at his House of Miracles studio, this one pleases sonically, as well.