Although brief, this four-song EP signals a major directional shift for the Louisville-based instrumental outfit Parlour. First established in the late 1990s by Tim Furnish-- a vet who has played with such scene stalwarts as Crain, the For Carnation, and Papa M-- Parlour's two previous albums were essentially glorified solo works, featuring tracks written by Furnish between the years 1996-2001 that relied heavily on atmospheric swells, drones, and textures derived from his laptop.
The Parlour featured on Hives Fives, however, is one who has undergone an extensive and beneficial renovation. On these tracks-- recorded by Paul Oldham in December 2004-- the now full-fledged group has expanded to a seven-piece, together utilizing a substantially broader range of live instrumentation. These new additions, particularly the bass clarinet and saxophone work of Steve Good and Craig McClurkin, help to infuse and circulate enough fresh blood to animate every square inch of Furnish's compositions, resulting in Parlour's most vibrant and distinctive work to date.
Bursting with layers of burbling analog keyboards, guitars, and locomotive drumming, Hives Fives could garner comparisons to Tortoise's Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Another significant point of reference is the seminal work of post-rock pioneers Pell Mell, whose lively, expansive melodicism is echoed strongly in Parlour's deft guitar and keyboard interchanges. Even so, on Hives Fives this extended version of the group make considerable advances in establishing a unique, recognizable identity that was sometimes lacking on Parlour's earlier releases.
It certainly doesn't hurt that all four of these tracks come equipped with several massive melodic hooks, each able to shape-shift from one chorus to the next without the group breaking stride. On the introductory "Such (A One Year Stem)" dense synth and woodwind drones combine to lay down an absorbent carpet of moss beneath the competing volleys of chiming guitar and percolating drumbeats. The title track is a throbbing, lively, forward-looking piece of such sunny disposition that it almost resembles the soundtrack to an unusually adventurous industrial video, sounding as though it should be providing accompaniment to quick-cut footage of robots busy building jet engines or minting new pennies.
"Timorme" coordinates puffs of narcotic clarinet and Bitches Brew keyboards before giving way to irregular, modernist guitar jangle, while the closing "Bringseeds" pushes things even further off-kilter, as pulsing electronic chords and drummer Joey Yates' jittery hopscotch rhythms eventually coalesce into muscular full-group riffing. About the only thing you can say against the songs of Hives Fives is that there are not more of them. This full-scale version of Parlour fairly begs for a more suitably epic expanse of terrain, and one can only hope that it's not long before we see this group able to truly stretch their legs.
