A very striking balance of melodic folk-inspired mellow moments and prog-rock lead outbursts, Thom Parsons is an artist whose style and writing skills are rare in new music circles these days. Sometimes in the chaos you need a moment to stop and reflect, and it doesn’t all need to be classical or chilled electronica that can take you there.
Most of the House Of Savages bands that grace the stage are fueled with anger, angst, enthusiasm, passion or are just generally a fan of cranking up the volume to the max (and then some to the horror of our soundman), but with this months’ spotlight act we’re drumming up the sounds of Radiohead, Muse, Buckley and Incubus in one audio melting pot. One of the things that I like about attending the night is that you don’t have to have a full on headbanger session each time, but can flow from mosh pit to polite head nod in stages and wake up the next day with a neck that moves where you want it too. A strong bonus I’d say!
Starting with “Infamy” we meet the rocker in Thom Parsons; the song that’ll capture the ears of every modern rock anthem fan who prefers a little intricacy over power chords to raise the blood pressure a little. “Only You” strips back the pace a little to allow you to enjoy the moment and take a breather, whilst “Kings, Saints and Scoundrels” channels the Patrick Wolf in him with his playful lyrics meets elaborate instrumentation. It’s nice to bring an artist to the stage whose 360 brand is thoughtful and stylish as opposed to the raw – yet brilliant – roughness of our usual artists.