Parker Longbough: Commander Comatose

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”.