Band to Know: The Parlor Mob

Meet Mark Melicia, David Rosen, Paul Ritchie, Nick Villapiano, and Sam Bey, from Red Bank, New Jersey - or, you can call them the Parlor Mob. They’ve been making waves in the music scene since 2004, bigger waves since their latest album release, And You Were a Crow, in May 2008, but there’s a good chance you haven’t heard of them yet. And, well, you’ve been missing out on a good time.

Named for a nineteenth century gang, the group’s sound is self described as “rock and roll with a contemporary style.” In other words, take good old fashioned rock and roll, with the bad boy twist and the in-your-face guitar, now add Melicia’s rangeful voice that melds together Zeppelin-esque vocals with the more underground indie vocals of today, and top it off with artful techniques that differ from song to song, like the the Southern twang and hang-out feeling percussion clap of “Can’t Keep a Good Boy Down,” which brings to mind a jam session on the Mississippi.

The five years between the band’s birth and success today was quite the climb. After signing with Capitol Records, their merger with Virgin Records sort of left The Parlor Mob hanging somewhere in the middle, and eventually they were dropped. They signed with Roadrunner Records in 2007, and began work on their album in Asheville, North Carolina (the Southern influence is apparent) with producer Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Kings of Leon, Modest Mouse). Once their effort was released, they got the attention they deserve, with recognition like being one of iTunes’ Best New Rock Artists.

The band gets a lot of attention for bringing that good time feeling back to rock and roll. A lot of bands have digressed into deep, emotional music - which is great. But it’s nice to relive rock’s heyday with a band like The Parlor Mob, not afraid to gleefully headbang and bust up some guitars. It might be more stimulating to listen to Morrissey, but wouldn’t it be more fun to listen to a band like this?

Pick up their album, And You Were a Crow, in stores or on iTunes, and listen to foot-tapping (yes, I just used that cheesy term) gems like “Can’t Keep a Good Boy Down,” “When I Was an Orphan,” “Hard Times,” and “My Favorite Heart to Break.”

August 17th, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in Uncategorized | (0)