Barfly

Late 2004 and Parka lead singer/songwriter Matt Thomson, becoming tired of his music studies at Perth College of Music, decides to head back to sunny Glasgow and put his collection of home recordings to good use. Music shops, internet and colleges were scoured for players and finally February 2005 saw the birth of Parka as a 4 piece indie/electro rock outfit with the smiley energy of a drummer called Neil, the calm presence of a bassist – Ian, and the eerie strangeness of a keyboard technocrat named Mark. Matt’s charming, childlike stage energy helped to win the band the attention they deserved, even back in the early days of their low-fi casio-infused moments.

A year down the line they were offered a single deal for their manic anthem ‘Disco Dancer’ through influential tastemaker 7” label Worst Case Scenario. Summer 2006 brought Parka to London in preparation for their debut single where they found themselves living in an old strip club in Whitechapel, resplendent with pole in the living room and chair screwed to the floor outside the shower cubicle! First time guests to the Parka residence must perform at least one initiation pole dance for the band.

'Disco Dancer’ took many by surprise, winning Zane Lowe’s Fresh Meat on Radio 1, getting playlisted on XFM. The video (complete with balloon drum kit, guitar and sax) made it onto The Box and Q.

The bigger labels came calling and Jeepster won the race for their signature whilst the band continued to claim London’s indie clubs as their own, toured with Boy Kill Boy, opened for The Automatic and sold out Glasgow’s King Tuts.

Now permanent residents in London while they record their album, Parka’s first single on Jeepster, set for release in 2007, will introduce a wider audience to the excitement of the bands guitar and sax driven dance excursions

TSDOLE remind us of everything and nothing. They make perfect sense and no sense at all. They're massive and yet they fit in The Barfly. They shouldn't even fit in Camden. We're shocked that they're English. Music on this scale is usually made by bands like The Arcade Fire. But this charismatic five-piece, thankfully, are readdressing the balance. Wathcing them play, and constantly swapping instruments, is like watching a post-folk reworking of Les Miserables. Go See.