#cold seas

Shakespeare, Sonnet 97

Winter sea off the cape

Rainy morning on Cape Cod

Influenced by gritty ’70s sounds, New Jersey’s the Parlor Mob have been doing their own take on blues-fueled hard rock for more than a decade. Following some label issues and an EP that didn’t get released, their debut full-length, And You Were a Crow (stream it here), came out in 2008. AllMusic compared Mark Melicia’s voice to Geddy Lee’s, and called the album “a very impressive effort, worthy of the band’s tortuous path toward its creation.” There was more turmoil, including a lineup change, before the band’s second LP, Dogs (stream it here), arrived in 2011. “The Parlor Mob make a convincing case that classic rock can sound as fresh as it once did in a contemporary setting, without any overtly modern revisions,” reported PopMatters. “The album doesn’t sound completely devoid of any modern influence, but it does sound at home with many classic rock LPs. This is high-octane, distortion-fueled rock and roll from start to finish.” After a hiatus, they returned in 2015 with a new EP, Cry Wolf (stream it here). “The Parlor Mob show considerable growth in their third release and move out of their blues-rock pigeonhole,” said Sputnik Music. “You don’t need to be innovative all the time; you just need to be very, very good.” Last year, Melicia (vocals), Gianni Scalise (bass), Paul Ritchie (guitar) and Sam Bey (drums) began putting out singles again—and they kick off a new tour on Thursday night at Rough Trade NYC. Asbury Park, N.J., four-piece the Cold Seas and Jersey soul duo the Jack Moves open the show.

tall trees put me at ease

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My favourite track from the latest album by Adam Stafford. Reminds me of exceptional artists such as Broken Social Scene. Incredible.