Todd Parker & the Witches :: Greetings From the Star Chamber

The last our ears heard from Todd Parker was Use With Headphones Late at Night: The Best of Tadpoles 1990-2000, a brief summation of one the most consistent, evolving and involving, runs a band could aim for. Tadpoles spun an intricate, inviting web of sonics that was as strong and identifiable as it was flexible and amorphous. Todd created a knotty, loopy world with Tadpoles that was a self-contained, self-sufficient and fully realized universe for us to visit, and thankfully revisit. Greetings From The Star Chamber {GFTSC} is another universe of his making. The portal is open. Walk in and shake the architect’s hand.

GFTSC is not Tadpoles 2.0. Nor is it simply a solo album. {That said, the reappearance of Mike Audino on the drum kit and co-producing, David Max, Josh Bracken, et al, should appease those Tads purists in fear of their reputation being sullied if this misfires. Much of GFTSC, in regards to extending the line of thinking pursued by Tadpoles, is a melding of pre-Smoke Ghost with later career accomplishments.} This is Parker adding another chapter to a book that will never be finished … an ongoing continuum that he already contributed to immensely with Tadpoles, ensuring that if he didn’t say anything else after Tadpoles went into a holding pattern, he had already said quite a lot.

That raises the question, ‘Does he have anything to say now?’

And ‘What book are you rambling on about? I thought we were talking sound …’

I’m talking about the bigger picture, baby. Can you dig? I’m talking about your rock ‘n roll as nourishment. More importantly I’m talking about his music, his art, being part of something far more expansive and far-reaching than an end product or tallies on a spreadsheet. Tadpoles never reached the level of popularity regarded by many as a benchmark of success. And in it’s own way, that’s tragic: tragic for those who never stepped inside that universe. Would Tadpoles have kept going on if they had reached a certain pre-ordained cultural pinnacle? I don’t know and I don’t really care. Was it tragic for Tadpoles? Not at all. Why? Because that’s not what they were about. Todd and Co. were, and are, about taking what they obviously love and making it their own while never laying claim to total ownership, and by default, invention. And that right there was one of their secret weapons: it liberated them from an endless cycle of rehashing not only where they might have felt they came from, but themselves.

Tingler :: Todd Parker & the Witches :: Greetings from the Star Chamber {Bakery Records, 2010}

As I sit and write this, it’s hard to expound about Todd Parker and the Witches without talking about Tapdoles. One is part of the other just as the other is part of the one. That’s heavy, kids, I know, but for as forward looking and exploratory as Parker and Tadpoles were he never shied away from acknowledging what came before them, what he was a part of. No need to start now. Listen to the kick-off Squigs for proof: those opening strains and washes call to mind to something as familiar as Pink Floyd, a freely admitted influence, but never sounds like something they would have done. The same can be said for Give It To The Elf as it resurrects Gerald Mouse. Go back and put any Tadpoles platter on and you’ll hear, you’ll feel, Todd making a contribution to a rich and convoluted history … story … that they didn’t start, but kept alive in the truest sense. If Parker had concerned himself with making some kind of definitive statement that would have not only been a foolish endeavor worthy of Sisyphus, but would have effectively put him in the position of not having anything left to say. By the time GFTSC comes to a rousing close, it’s obvious Todd has plenty left to say. If he didn’t, then the cuts and attention to sequencing wouldn’t leave you feeling you had just been told a story; a sonic ride that is trippy, humorous {“Ding dong, it’s coming on strong’ from The Witch is Dead … trust me, it works}, majestic, slithering {Tingler} and, for you action fans, just rocks {Chelsea Roses}. Is it a psychedelic record? A space-rock record? A psych-pop record? Neo-psych? You can call it what you want if that helps you keep track of it. I do know it’s a consistently strong record without every feeling workman-like.

Disconnect :: Todd Parker & the Witches :: Greetings from the Star Chamber {Bakery Records, 2010}

With Star Chamber, Todd Parker not only proves that he is a consummate craftsmen at what he does {just listen to his mastery of sprawl on what is essentially the closing track, Disconnect, a worthy successor in every sense to what I narrow-mindely thought was his parting ‘definitive statement’ Sunrise Ocean Bender from Whirlaway}, but he effortlessly achieves the contradictory {again} in a terribly linear world: by not being intimidated to look back, or rather not feeling some misplaced need to distance himself from past successes to gain some kind of relevance, he moves forward … at the same time. Is that a form of cognitive dissonance, those two opposing movements? I don’t know, I don’t have the chops to figure that one out … nor do I want to. But I do know that that seemingly contradictory logic is exactly the kind of logic that Todd turns into sonic magic. It’s not about the direction, it’s about the movement. That movement lets Parker sail us over a lot of ground without ever feeling adrift, even in the spacier, loopier excursions.

GFTSC is familiar and unfamiliar; expected and unexpected … and really, we expect nothing less than the unexpected from Todd Parker. Chances are, he expects nothing less than that from himself, and us, too. It would be easy to say, ‘Welcome back, Mr. Parker.’ But that’s sentiment going only in one direction. Parker is welcoming us to the Star Chamber.

:: Greetings from the Star Chamber available free/pay as you want for a limited time. More info at BandCamp.

:: Todd Parker and the Witches

:: Todd Parker interview

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