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Parker Longbough

Commander Comatose

(Wilderhood; US: 24 Apr 2007; UK: Unavailable)

Parker Longbough isn’t Parker Longbough but actually Matthew Witthoeft, who uses Parker Longbough as his alter ego. Whoever the hell he is, Longbough can churn out lovely little indie pop/rock nuggets that could have fallen off of The Replacements’ All Shook Down, especially the opening title track. The Alaskan native is also adept at making the most of rather barren pop songs, particularly the Weezer-lite “Think On Your Own” and the pretty, acoustic-driven “Expatriate” which ambles along like a la Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon”. What Longbough does so well is stick to what he does best during the catchy, Midwestern-feeling “Further Forwards” that breaks out into a series of buzzsaw-like guitars before calming down again. Meanwhile, the singer shines on “Swimming In My Mind” which sounds like a Brit-inspired Ben Kweller. Following a poor “Broadawg Deal”, Longbough makes things right again with the Guided By Voices-esque “Half A Life” and the equally tasty and trippy “I Was Wrong”. Although it’s not quite as stellar as some might want, Longbough shines on songs that on other albums would be throwaway tracks such as the roots-meets-Americana “Losing My Mind”.

Rating:

Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.


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