Parker Avenue play the kind of otherworldly rock that burrows its way into your brain and lays eggs. Once it's in there it stays forever, growing and growing as it becomes part of you.
It is as strange as it is beautiful.
Their latest EP, Still Falling Gaze, is ablaze in powerhouse heavy rock fuelled by searing, almost Romani violins – defining a sound that is unique and compelling yet still undiluted. Something powerfully old world, yet breathtakingly new. With a title-track single that captures the dry red dust of Australia's vast expanse, drowned in the depths of painful emption, Still Falling Gaze is a work that stands defiant of convention.
Formed by singer/guitarist Pete Ashton, Parker Avenue evolved through the usual genesis of finding a lineup and writing the first generation of songs, to arrive at a place where they have powerful chemistry as a band and sure-footed confidence as songwriters.
Their first EP It Isn't Dead was flat-out good alternative rock; catchy songs delivered with beef and sincerity. Still Falling Gaze picks up where this left off, but ups the ante considerably from there. Introducing powerful new instrumentation, arrangements and themes based on personal hardship, Ashton stared into the face of adversity and funnelled its heightened emotion into meticulous and riveting songs.
From the very first bar, Still Falling Gaze charges out of the gate with tempered ferocity. It is instantly heavier and stranger than It Isn't Dead, but at the same time clearer and more focused. The interaction between the rock side and the violin side is executed with an assassin's precision. Pete Ashton's original vision has expanded and magnified exponentially, and with it has come a new era of the band that feels liquid and capable of delving into any musical territory. But at the heart of everything is still a great song. Catchy and engaging, regardless of its flavour.
Depending on which way you look at it, Still Falling Gaze is either beautifully simple or elegantly sophisticated. In principal its sound is just a voice, guitar, drums, bass and violin. The reality, however, is that it is a swirling tornado of sounds that howl and scream, yet never get in each other's way. Chaos that has been harnessed and wielded like a weapon. With members spread out across the continent of Australia, Parker Avenue is a band unlike any other – kept apart by distance but brought together by a singular goal. Bold, exciting and unpredictable, Still Falling Gaze is the accomplishment of that goal.
'Still Falling Gaze' out now on CD and via all digital platforms iTunes - Apple Music - Spotify - Google Music
Links to Parker Avenue
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkeravenue/