Parade of Lights - Human Condition Pt. 1 EP

Parade of Lights
Human Condition Pt. 1
2018
Spotify

Wide open anthemic electropop is nothing new to the pop scene. Over the last five or six years bands have honed this sound to an almost razors edge and put a lot of bodies in an already crowded indie field. This make standing out tough, making new music that connects even tougher. Parade of lights land somewhere in that category plying their trade in LA and touring with larger bands along the way. Their sound has always been a bit bigger than rest, making rock clubs feel like they were stadiums. Drummer Anthony Improgo bangs those things with a fire that is inescapable with the rest of the band pumps music into the crowd. I've seen them live a few times and every time I have been blown away by the power they are able to mine out of these songs. This record Human Condition Pt. 1 is the first without bassist Randy Schulte as He seems to have vanished from all the bands promotions. The title track is the first real step out of the bands usual sound, and well it doesn't quite work. Instead of a blistering electropop banger it is this 80s inspired power ballad that feels as dated as it does off. This bump in the EP totally throws you off which is only punctured by the aggressive bassline on "Touch" bringing you back around to this glorious call and response that they have going on during the track. "Touch" is Parade of Lights are their best while "Human Condition" is them at their corniest.

You get the sense that this EP might be a bit of a dump of their old stuff in hopes of moving forward in a new direction which is, odd. They still have vestiges of who the came up as on this record but there are subtle moves towards the middle that are the least unsuccessful pieces of the album. It was always the edge that Parade of Lights harnessed so well that set them apart, but they appear to be trying to round those out a bit to their detriment. These are still songs that will get you pumping your fist and singing along, but gone is that bit of caged fury that they once had. Maybe they will find it again, or maybe part two will blow our minds. Parade of Lights are still a great band and have some really good tunes inside of them, they just all didn't quite make it to this album.

6.7 out of 10