Poundshop Parka - An Air Balloon Over Tooting Broadway
Poundshop Parka is a fresh new Indie Pop experience founded by old friends Pete Devaney and Tom Jenkins. Although this group is new to the scene, they are already gaining traction thanks to their high quality music. Today we are excited to share our thoughts on Poundshop Parka’s first full-length album, An Air Balloon Over Tooting Broadway, released through B Side Recording!
An Air Balloon Over Tooting Broadway kicks off with “Managing Director”. This song was Poundshop Parka’s first ever release and the first song we here at Which Coast heard from them and we still love how groovy this track is. I think it is a great lead for the album, both because it was the group’s first ever single and because it showcases their knack for crafting high-quality compositions (check our original review here). “Common” follows and keeps the groove flowing, opening with a 60’s Garage Rock-inspired guitar riff and continuing that raw energy throughout. This song seems like it was a blast to write and record - it is definitely a fun listening experience as well! “am” features a crunchy guitar riff and some dark and expressive sound bass; I love the tone of both the guitar and bass here, they both have a certain deep feeling to them that really doubles down on the crunchiness.
“Park Bench” is the fourth song from An Air Balloon Over Tooting Broadway and its acoustic guitar and piano pair well to create a somber, longing texture that really gives off some phenomenal classic blues vibes. “T.Rex” is driven by a piano and it reminds me of some Beatles songs in terms of composition; even the guitar solo feels like something George Harrison would have written and there is something surprisingly spiritual about this track and how it harkens back to such a legendary band. Up next is “Syd” which fuses a Folk vibe with the overarching Blues energy that has been prevalent so far. This one will sneak up on you with how melodic it is. “Air Balloon” is next and the finger-picked guitar in the intro really sets the stage for the whole song and its euphoric atmosphere. As more instruments join, the feelings intensify, rounding out into something truly special.
The eighth track from An Air Balloon Over Tooting Broadway is “Room” which is a remarkably textured piece that further illustrates just how phenomenal Poundshop Parka is at making deeply enjoyable compositions. This track also has some of my favorite lyrics from this group and stands as one of my personal favorites on the album. The ninth song is the Abbey Road-recorded version of “T.Rex”. I love how this version is more crisp and, fittingly because of where it was recorded, sounds even more Beatles-esque. I adore how polished this version sounds and it contrasts in quite an interesting way against the gritty and bluesy sound featured on the rest of An Air Balloon Over Tooting Broadway. Poundshop Parka’s version of “The Long and Winding Road” (also fittingly recorded live at Abbey Road) closes out the album, provides a poignant closing to this album. Poundshop Parka is able to capture the essence of the original in a gripping and moving way and I cannot imagine this album closing on a higher note than this.
From start to finish, I really enjoy everything that An Air Balloon Over Tooting Broadway has to offer. Poundshop Parka effortlessly takes the sounds of oldschool Blues and Rock & Roll and fuses it with sounds similar modern Indie (or at least, formerly Indie) groups like The Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys to create what is undoubtedly their own distinctive flavor of music. You can keep up with Poundshop Parka through Instagram and Facebook and find their music on Spotify. When it is available for streaming, we hope you enjoy An Air Balloon Over Tooting Broadway as much as we have!
