I nearly
subtitled this “Identity Crisis” because a few things got confusing. There is
another Parachute, only they are Parachute Band, and they are a worship band
from New Zealand. On Spotify, even when you go to the correct band named
Parachute, there are songs listed that I am pretty sure are not them. I’m not
saying that it’s impossible that they have done some Japanese children’s songs
and Slavic(?) ambient music, but it seems like they would mention it on their
web site if they had.
Also,
listening to Parachute at the same time as Sunderland threw me, because they
both had a “Kiss Me Slowly”, but Sunderland was covering Parachute (one of
their favorite bands), so things made sense again. The Parachute version is
doing pretty well for fan videos for television couples, incidentally.Anyway, I
am confident that Parachute knows who they are, so there will be no identity
crisis.
Who they
are is a five member ensemble from Charlottesville, Virginia. I use “ensemble”
because I really feel like they blend well, in terms of what instruments are
used when, and how they go together. Most of the members seem to play multiple
instruments, so that probably helps.
They
originally played together as Sparky’s Flaw, but changed to Parachute when they
graduated from college in 2008. So, they are pretty young, but they did not
seem like kids, and perhaps I can illustrate that.
I am
including some pictures here, which I have not done with any of the other acts
from that night so far. I am not a great photographer under the best
circumstances, and indoors, dark, with people moving around, is pretty much the
worst circumstances for me. Still, I kind of like some of these, and that is
because of the guitarist (I believe that is Nate McFarland, but I can’t
confirm) rocking above the stage by jumping up on the amp, I guess. I don’t
know that they fully convey how cool he was, and I was not in any way able to
convey the coolness of the others, especially the lead singer. However, I hope
this gives some idea of what I meant about them playing like men, and
grown-ups. They looked real, even though Sunderland was not unreal.
Will
Anderson totally owned the audience, as a lead singer should. He flirted with
us, he came out and walked among us, and I think he lost his coat to us, though
it may just have ended up with a crewmember. If he really did lose it, that
would be an expensive habit. Will also told us that his grandfather had lived
in Oregon while Will was growing up, so he had visited here often. You don’t always
have that type of connection, but finding some connection with the audience is
the frontman’s job, and he was doing it.
Watching
them on stage, they seemed to be more straight up rock, but listening to their
recorded tracks I hear some other influences. They sound a little bit country
at times, maybe more Southern rock, and hailing from Virginia, maybe that makes
sense. That influence is probably most evident on “Forever and Always”, which
not only has some twang but tells a depressing story.
More interesting
is that there appears to be kind of a gospel influence, not so much in terms of
lyrical content, but in some of the vocal work, where it is almost chanting,
and the beat and tempo, like who’s the worship band now?. Over the undercurrent
of funk, it makes many of the songs really fun to listen to. “What I Know” may
be the best example of this, closely followed by “Something to Believe In”,
though I think that leans more towards blues. I’m almost picking up a Johnny
Clegg or a Paul Simon vibe, but it’s been a long time since I listened to
those, and I could be wrong.
“She is
Love” and “Under Control” will probably be the most familiar, as they were used
in Nivea commercials. Again, “Kiss Me Slowly” seems to be picking up a lot of
fans as a love theme. Still, we
should not neglect some of the other songs. “American Secrets is interesting in
that it is divided into two parts, and they both use “Oh’s” in the refrains,
and yet they have two completely different tones, and it’s like a story and its
sequel in a single track. “All That I Am” from the first album may kind of
foreshadow it.
I know
that I already mentioned the funk, but I still need to call out “Halfway” for
that, because it is funky. Well, really, for most of both albums I was
physically grooving. Yes, I am easy this way, but still it’s a good sign, in my
opinion.
I can’t
quite explain why I love “Ghost” so much. Perhaps it is the unique viewpoint.
Something about it makes me listen harder.
Still, let’s
say you just take the most recent album, 2011’s The Way it Was, and you
start listening there, and the first track is “White Dress”, and it is really
buoyant, and that is a good introduction to what is coming. It’s not
that all of the subject matter is cheerful, because it’s not, but nonetheless
the overall sound is joyful. Maybe they’ve had hard times, but they are making
good things out of it, and mark that down as one other thing I like about the
record.
Maybe good
things are happening for them. (Except for whatever inspired “Forever and
Always”.)
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