The Mountain Parade – Kitchen Songs

The Mountain Parade are a loosely assembled collective based in Oxford and Bristol and these are their first recordings, put to tape in a kitchen as the title suggests.
The Squid And The Whale is as trad folk as it gets with a plaintive chorus and some lovely bits where singer Roxanne steps back and lets the brass take over. Where other bands are offering up a new take on folk, The Mountain Parade take it back to the beginning and still sound fresh. Awesome Wonder has a very cyclical and rolling feel to it while the sombre musical start to Shackleton Bewley gives way to some cracking strings and a buoyant feel, while still restrained. I’d love to hear the vocals more prominent in this mix on this song though. Dragons doesn’t do much for me, but that may just be the recording and Egg Shaker, Sky Scraper is suitably chirpy and sweet, but can sound a bit cluttered at times. While there is an element of school orchestra to these songs, there’s a naïve charm you just can’t resist.

The Mountain Parade myspace is here. I don't think Kitchen Songs is a being given a proper release, but if you drop the band a message you may be able to get your hands on the songs.