Words and Photos: Richie Yates
One of those disjointed conversations, ‘yeah I’m playing in another band as well, the Dave Park Five’ ‘Ha, great name’ ‘Yeah were at the Cavern in Liverpool on Saturday’ leads to me being at The International Pop Overthrow Festival down on Matthew Street to watch the five Swedes who’ve flow over to play.
They’ve been plying their trade under various names since the 1980s and in that usual cross fertilisation that bands have they also share members with other bands such as (the one that comes to our attention); Men on the Border – a band those of a pink Floyd disposition may remember putting on a large scale Syd Barrett tribute gig in Cambridge a few years back that included half the Stockholm Symphony Orchestra and gained rave reviews.
But yeah, the Dave Park Five, where are they at? The band is fresh sounding, upbeat and very tuneful. The Swedes are all extremely proficient on their instruments and what could be a slow understated pop rock band hit it up with a very rapid and energetic performance. The songs have a melodic sensibility thats rare in many current bands and are played with panache. There’s a violin in there too which added an extra layer to their sound and it avoided any overt folky clichés with (as was pointed out to me at the gig), a spirited almost brass section definition to its sound.
Tracks like Animation place them in a post punk zone but fundamentally reinforce that they are a Pop Rock band with its concentration on the melodic. Out of Your Wonderful World shows a slower paced piece of songwriting that retains their melodic outlook but shows a more bigger, varied soundscape.
For those wondering, there’s no resemblance to the Dave Clarke Five, just so you know.
Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedaveparkfive
Record Label: https://blindastrid.com