"Parklife [is] a classic rock-inspired trio that has been
denied its due for much too long despite playing
some of the most ambitious and engaging melodies
in town." -Rick Cornell, Independent Weekly
To put it simply, Parklife is a rock n' roll band that hearkens back to a time when that term really meant something. Drawing on a variety of classic and modern influences, Parklifes upcoming album, Songs From the Imperial Hotel, features honest, forthright songwriting and hook-laden, powerful soundscapes that make you imagine what it would be like for the Flaming Lips to revisit a Ziggy Stardust show. But while the band is not afraid to attribute its influences, it doesnt necessarily wear them on its sleeve. Instead, Parklife has evolved as a band by absorbing and refining those influences to develop its own powerful, unique 21st century rock and roll sound.
Parklife was formed in 2002 when longtime friends Rob Clay, Sam Clowney and Jason Bone got together to work on some new tunes. The young band's relentlessly energy, enthusiastic live shows and unique, genre-bending sound quickly nabbed the attention of Grammy-nominated producer
John Custer (Cry of Love, Corrosion of Conformity, Chris Whitley), who immediately took the band into Raleigh's fabled JAG Studios, where Parklife recorded its debut EP, Lonely Eyes and Amsterdam. From the driving, melodic rock of "Butterflies and Hurricanes" to the lush sonic landscapes of "San Jacinto," Amsterdam's four songs captured the sound the band had been developing in its live shows: Clay's engaging, honest vocals; soaring guitars that seem to blend elements of Hendrix, U2, the Cocteau Twins, Miles Davis, Wilco and Sonic Youth; and powerful, melodic bass lines owing as much to Mingus as McCartney, John Paul Jones and Joy Division. To get a sense of the bands songs, try imagining what the Replacements might have sounded like had Paul Westerberg grown up in 80s Manchester instead of Minnesota in the 1970s.
The combination of strong songwriting and explosive live shows quickly earned the band an enthusiastic and growing fan base, not only garnering the group support slots with Wilco, Better Than Ezra and Seven Mary Three, but critical acclaim and buzz in the industrys A&R tip sheets. Thanks to non-stop touring and strong Internet buzz, the band sold out the initial pressing of Amsterdam, and then made their way into Mitch Easter's (R.E.M., Pavement, Let's Active) famed Fidelitorium and Low Watt studio in Raleigh, N.C. to record what will become the band's full length debut, Songs From the Imperial Hotel. Imperial Hotel finds the band turning the melodic Brit-rock of Amsterdam on its head, emerging with a powerful, dynamic album of unadulterated rock n roll that pushes into the realm of power pop. For example, the Gram Parsons-influenced opening of the album's first track, "Memphis," yields to a closing crescendo of feedback and pounding drums at the end, while "Someday Lovesong" is a melodic, power-pop rave up that revels in the sheer joy of rock and roll. And ultimately, thats what Songs From the Imperial Hotel is all about: timeless rock n roll in all its glorious rebellions and ambitions. Within the confines of this single album youll hear the bands influences, which range from Led Zeppelin to the Smiths, R.E.M. to Nina Simone, Dylan to Public Enemy, and U2 and the Beatles. As a result, Songs From the Imperial Hotel sounds like everything and nothing you've ever heard -- all at once.
Currently, while shopping for a label for 'Songs', parklife has re-entered the studio with John Custer to record 4 new songs.
