Parka - If You Wanna

Parka's maestro Matt Thomson clearly listened to a lot of punk rock bands in his youth. Maybe he still does. The single If You Wanna certainly sounds like a few, and it seems like it's no bad thing. If you like the vibe, and you were a fan of derivative acts like The Tone, you'll love this. If you think the past is best left alone except as inspiration you'll probably wonder why this sort of thing didn't stop with Rancid. The record wears its idols on it's sleeve, with the mod-tastic name of the band lettered in the ransom-note cut-up style made famous by the snotty three-chord thrashers of years gone by. Parka are fun, and at least one of the tracks will make you smile if you like to drink and sing along to that upstart whiteboy sound. It'd be an insult to the greats he's aping to compare him to them favourably, but it's harmless and infectious stuff. [James Blake]