Morning Parade
Pure Adulterated Joy
(So Recordings)

The overdriven single-note guitar, sweeping synth, snapping snare and anthemic vocal of “Shake the Cage” opens Morning Parade’s new Pure Adulterated Joy. “Alienation,” the second song of these ten, has a cool beat again and solid vocal to recommend it above the “plupping” predictability of its sweeping-for-no-real-reason atmosphere.

I like the flicka-flick metallic backbeat and soft vocal to “Reality Dream.” It’s a nice floaty tune and even the heavy guitar lead at its end doesn’t overstay its welcome.  “Car Alarms & Sleepless Nights” has a pretty cool, loud lead, but for the most part it has that overly sleepy Radiohead vibe to it. Steve Sparrow can sing though. “Autoinjector” moves a bit better in its unapologetic production of layers and drummer Andrew Hayes is on fire throughout.

Again we get the groove of a snapping snare, Sparrow’s fine vocals and Chad Thomas’ single note leading on the big, fun, commercial, gonna-make-the-girls-sing-along “Sharing Cigarettes.” “Seasick” has some neat Ben Giddings key sounds near its tail. I like the desperate upfront push of the lyric on the ender “Culture Vulture,” with Sparrow barely taking a breath and how bassist Phil Titus lays back with Thomas in the groove.

Let’s face it, Morning Parade is a band of a certain style, enjoying  a certain modern day production that maybe substitutes a little too much for atmosphere and emotion. Still, the arrangement of the overall sound works well for this 5-piece from Essex.