I don’t usually have a great deal of interest in side projects of bands or artists that I love.  I’m usually disappointed by them, most likely through unfairly comparing them to the original act.  So these days I tend to just avoid most as it seems to be an infinitely safer option.  That said, there are certain people that I will follow into whatever project they choose to throw their weight behind.  Ben Parker is one of those people.

Long time readers of the blog should already be familiar with Parker (and if not, I may as well just walk away right now) through both his project and the sadly defunct band.  Both of those are absolute favourites of mine by this point, so I’m inclined to put my trust into whatever he gets up to.  His new band is a three-piece, which mixes things up from the one-man SRS and the two-man ND2.  One can only assume that years from now he’ll be leading his own New Pornographers-esque supergroup.

are still finding their feet, and this does come across in their recordings.  They are messy and a bit all over the place, with the sound being rather murky at times.  Parker’s vocals are closer to that of his former band, and you won’t be even slightly surprised to learn that these aren’t the happiest of songs.  My first point of comparison, if not musically, are the original Johnny Foreigner that drew me to them years ago.  The sound isn’t quite there, but the potential certainly comes shining through, and with a little more time, will be very exciting indeed.

MP3 The Jonbarr Hinge – Why Do We Pretend?

Myspace / Facebook / Lastfm