THIS downbeat psychedelic debut from Canadian retro musician and photographer Tess Parks is part of the first tranche of releases on Alan McGee’s new label, 359 Music.
As with McGee’s acts in his Creation Records days, 23-year-old Parks has one foot in rock’s heritage, not least Jesus And The Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine.
For the past four years, she has divided her time between her native Toronto and student life in London, and her scuzzy, sepia material straddles the Atlantic too, the Mary Chain on this side, Hope Sandoval on the other.
Last year’s unexpected but dream-perfect return of Sandoval’s Mazzy Star could have been ill-starred for Parks, but can you resist the slinky allure of hazy vocals, wonky melodies, warped guitars and drowsy drums or “lo-fi alternative drones with a hypnotic vibe”, as she puts it? J
ust as it worked for Mary Chain offshoot Sister Vanilla with the Reids’ sister Linda in 2007, it works again for Tess of the dirge fields.
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