Kevin is drunk someplace right now and not able to type straight, let alone bring you the jams, so he’s enlisted me to take care of y’all today. (Disclosurey stuff about me after said jam.)

The band I want to talk to you about today is probably my favorite band coming up in LA right now, The Parson Red Heads. The band, led by Evan Way, migrated down to LA from Oregon and have really come unto their own in the last year or so. They play great pop songs informed by CSNY, The Birds and that brand of jangly 60’s pop in general. They toss down pretty harmonies, catchy songs (I was hooked from my very first listen which is documented here), and a rhythm section that is out of control. Now, when I say out of control, I mean it in a few different ways, The first way, is obviously that they play well. A tambourine has never made you want to shake your hips more than when watching this band. No joke. There’s also the fact that the ladies of the Parson’s rhythm section are totally foxes. Yeah, like I said, out of control. If you get a chance to go see them, do it, but I warn you now, you will leave with a crush on the whole band. Songs like “Punctual as Usual” will also infect your head and you’ll find yourself singing it as you walk to your car (hey, it worked on me) or maybe even when you wake up in the morning the next day. Your chance to see them is quickly approaching as well, The Parson Red Heads will be playing a residency at LA’s The Echo every Monday in December for FREE. I’ll be there.

LA music blogs You Set The Scene and Passion of the Weiss both have recent posts on the Red Heads.

You should listen to the aforementioned song here but also go check the band’s official website for some more stuff.

The Parson Red Heads – Punctual As Usual

(In full disclosurey sort of stuff, this is kind of a total conflict of interest as I also promote records to So Much Silence now and again. Kevin is probably WAY too drunk to care though, I’m also telling you about it, so please don’t punch me in the face, okay? In further disclosurey stuff I am totally friends with The Parson Red Heads. Clearly, I think they are the shit. No, really, don’t hit me. The best thing for you to do is listen for yourself to see if I’m actually the hack that I’m semi-making myself out to be.)

So, Dodge posted Tuesday about Mazarin calling it quits, which upset me because I really dug into the group’s last LP, We’re Already There. Turns out, the band is actually being forced to change its name becaue of a cease and desist order by an attorney hired by another band called Mazarin, “often referred to as ‘Long Island musical legends’ ” (by whom I don’t know).

This from The Good Mazarin’s Web site, wherein “Mazarin A” refers to those “Long Island musical legends”:

Considering MAZARIN B had no disposable income to fight the case, plus information had come to light revealing that one of the members of MAZARIN A was in poor physical health, yet still paying his attorney some four hundred dollars an hour, all the while desperately soliciting donations for their legal and medical funds via their website, MAZARIN B and their management concluded the whole predicament was so sad and despairing that instead of dragging out a lengthy litigation, which they had neither the time nor money to commit to; fuck it. Clearly, the name is cursed.

And, really, how could The Good Mazarin win this one? I mean, Mazarin A “was awarded ‘Best Rock Band’ by Good Times Music Magazine 1982-1986” and “has shared the stage with the world’s top music acts and has performed thousands of shows in front of hundreds of thousands of loyal fans.” Good Times Music Magazine? Wow. What were the Walkmen thinking? They should have covered this Mazarin.

Sigh. This reminds me of the rapper Common, who went by the name Common Sense on his first two albums but was sued by a ska band nobody had heard of by the same name. Hence, Common.

Ah, well. The Good Mazarin is having a show (retirement party?) on Dec. 2 in Philadelphia to bid farewell to its name. I really hope they just change the name and keep playing. Garrison had asked me a few months ago if, looking back, there were any albums I wished I had put on my best-of list for 2005. We’re Already There definitely was my first choice.

As for music, The Good Mazarin is offering a new track, Your Advice, at its MySpace page.

Mazarin | Another One Goes By

Look, I think we should talk. Me and you. I just don’t want you to be surprised or alarmed if Baby Dayliner’s Critics Pass Away LP ends up on my best-of list for the year, OK? I know all the anonymous commenters will hate it. But I think you, you will understand. Have you heard the lounge-heavy beats? Or his voice, unapologetically romantic?

Baby Dayliner, who signs his checks Ethan Marunas, is streaming a new track at his MySpace page. It’s just as good as anything off Critics Pass Away. It’s called Dolemite, and it’s a rhythm junkie’s dream: big, splashy snare drums and hand claps. Hand claps! The rhythm is intricate, but it all stays on time until the chorus, when the tempo picks up under nostalgic strokes of what sounds like that Casio keyboard you got for Christmas that one year. (You know what I’m talking about.)

I’m serious. I won’t quit till you’re convinced.

Stream Dolemite here.

Or try this:

Baby Dayliner | At Least (via Brassland)