Hear It Now!

Celebrate the keenly-anticipated release of GRAHAM PARKER’s new album LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST with the street date release of a diabolical new single. The album’s lead track (and perhaps its manifesto) “The Music Of The Devil” gets a standalone release alongside the album on September 8 and can be pre-ordered or pre-saved now (https://orcd.co/grahamparker-tmotd) while the album itself hits record store shelves in CD form. And as of now, the Limited LP Edition (on clear bottle green vinyl) can be pre-ordered ahead of its official October 27 release, with copies ordered directly from Big Stir Records shipping to arrive immediately.

The Music Of The Devil” serves as both the kick off track for LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST and a mission statement of sorts for not just the album but perhaps even Parker himself. A sly, rootsy ode to the acclaimed singer-songwriter’s chosen art form, rock and roll, it sets the tone for the record by being at once genuinely funny and authentically dark while scratching the surface of deeper truths. PARKER’s current crack backing band THE GOLDTOPS – SIMON EDWARDS(bass), JIM RUSSELL(drums), MARTIN BELMONT (lead guitar) and GERAINT WATKINS on keys – come crashing in with a monster movie intro before cooking up an invitingly sinister groove over which Parker tells a tale that’s part music history, part subcultural rallying cry, and maybe just a little bit autobiography.  

Parker, who’s been noted to be in particularly fine voice on the new album, is aided and abetted on vocals by THE LADY BUGS (Marietta Smith and Paige Stubley). “The Lady Bugs float like the choirgirls that they actually are on this album’s ballads, infused with old soul,” says Graham, “but on this one they sing like street corner ruffians!” Also commanding attention are Watkins’ swirling organ, circling around the infamous tritone known as “the Devil’s interval”. All the while, Parker sings with inimitable bluesy grit of the enduring power of rock and roll: “They tried to eliminate it, good luck with that /Pushed it underground but it just grew back / It just grew stronger with every iteration /The music of the devil was the new sensation.

If that sounds like a parallel with the Graham Parker story itself–that of a voice alternately celebrated and then marginalized, only to come back stronger, more accomplished, and more commanding each time, he won’t disagree with you. “I made my decision to be wicked and tough,” he sings midway through the tune: “I made my choice and it was nasty stuff: The music of the devil.” And while there’s nothing genuinely demonic about Parker’s approach, it remains as darkly compelling as ever on LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST. The album has already been hailed as one of his best, with Keith Creighton of Popdose calling it “just a majestic record” and Power Pop News declaring that Parker’s “lyrical wit, biting commentary and most of all, soul, all are on full display.” And Blitzed Magazine says the songs “do what great music should… there is an originality combined with influence that is the mainstay of this gentleman’s work ever since he opened up the world to his vision.” Graham Parker remains an original indeed: you can hear it in the engrossing shuffle of “The Music Of The Devil” and you’ll hear it all over LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST as both arrived on September 8.

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