Eargasm
THE PARLOR MOB
ROADRUNNER 2008

Every once in a while, a surprise crosses the ESM music desk. Case in point: after requesting a few CDs from perennial metal figureheads Roadrunner Records, The Parlor Mob’s debut album, And You Were A Crow, turned up, bringing with it the most potent heavy rock/blues/indie blend this side of The White Stripes. These hard-hitting New Jersey revivalists combine the propulsion of early Black Sabbath with the technical agility of Led Zeppelin, offsetting those ‘70s influences with a modern-day blues swagger and a good understanding of how to make stoner rock work (namely, speed it up). 

From the opening one-two punch of “Hard Times” and “Dead Wrong,” The Parlor Mob ventures off into sparkling indie rock on “Everything You’re Breathing For,” where you’ll hear the most obvious Jack White comparison. “The Kids” recalls Wolfmother with a fire lit under their Aussie ass, while the blistering epic “Tide Of Tears” builds on a weeping blues riff to maximize the potential of its eight-minute running time. Other headbangers include the pounding “Real Hard Headed” and the Motorhead-like stutter of “Bullet,” while acoustic slow burners “When I Was An Orphan” and “Can’t Keep No Good Boy Down” hearken back to the heavy-folk heyday of Page and Plant.

With a decidedly ‘70s look (long flowing hair, skinny blue jeans, leather boots), The Parlor Mob may bear the brunt of progressivist criticism from those who deny the classic rock influences present in today’s guitar-driven music. But And You Were A Crow sounds like forward-thinking rock ‘n’ roll at its pinnacle: passionate vocal delivery, fiery guitar playing, and a skin-tight groove that makes the band sound polished and loose at the same time. Getting dropped by Capitol Records in 2006 was probably the best thing that ever happened to The Parlor Mob, because no major label would ever let a band rock this hard or sound this good. By Nick McGregor