The PARKAS Now This Is Fighting (Endearing) Rating: NNNN Rating: NNNN
Indie whiz Andy Magoffin’s gift as a producer is his ability to craft layered slices of perfect pop that crackle with emotion, and that’s what he’s brought to the Parkas’ first-rate debut for Winnipeg indie Endearing Records. The London four-piece hone their quirky live energy into sparkling ditties that show off a penchant for breathy harmonies, wicked hooks and an underlying current of back-to-basics pop smarts. They know when to go whole hog with pogo-ready punk panache and – more importantly – when to pull back, as on the a cappella vocal parts of romantic suckerpunch Every Light Is Red, which nails the ever-elusive challenge of creating an unsissified indie ballad. Damn fine. The Parkas rock the El Mocambo Wednesday (November 5).
