The Parish - Storm Driven Bird EP on Gold Robot Records

Here's another one from Gold Robot this morning, from a band, The Parish, which are based out of Oakland, CA and sport some decidedly smooth-- a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll tracks on this 4 song EP.
Like the sleeve, it's the sound of lazy fishin' and throwing the catch in the back of your old Toyota...take a double exposed Polaroid and stick it on the fridge...it's just one of those perfect days.
The first track 'Through the boughs' has high falsetto layered vocal harmonies from guitarists Andy and Zac, who also split the songwriting on the single. Graham, from the Roman Ruins single yesterday plays drums...virtually everyone in the band has vocal credits listed and when Kim on the organ chimes in for the choruses, it makes that huge religious sound complete.
Excellently recorded and mixed, everything is cleanly separated and punchy, from the bright tremolo guitar to the bass organ melodies.
'Humboldt County Line' is another huge sing a long, maybe it's that Hammond organ that's making me think of Elvis Costello, minus his vocals of course, throw in a hint of a sunnier Wilco.
'Wishbook' on the B-Side uses a waltz off-beat sparingly along with slide guitar for this brief little faraway number. It's probably so they can take their time with Dummy in Trouble's rolling bassline and organ and blow out finish. It's a somber not so much sad as just reflecting. The slide is back again on this one and when it fades out, it's not over...it's just beginning to take off.

Nicely done solid alt-country from The Parish

From Gold Robot Records:

A1 - Through the Boughs
A2 - Humboldt County Line
B1 - Wishbook
B2 - Dummy in Trouble [mp3]

From Amelia Raitt of eMusic: "Oakland group The Parish revels in the sound of sunshine, pairing bright, breezy harmonies with loose guitar jangle. The Parish blend hundreds of disparate influences: there are hints of early REM, a little bit of Muswell-era Kinks, even a little bit of Creedence. "Dummy in Trouble" slows the whole formula down to a kind of sluggish crawl, a late-summer haze that creeps and expands. This brief glimpse of the group's sunshine sound is the ideal tonic for winter afternoons.