| CD $12.00 |
 |
| Digital |
 |
Jason Parker
Mica Rapstine
Josh Steiner
Tony Moreno
The Truly Me Club is the project of Portland, Oregon-based multi-instrumentalist and do-it-yourself producer Jason Parker. His debut album, Popstar on the Lam, is grounded in rumbling organ tones, thickened with layers of pitch-shifted harmonicas, and accented with delicate handbells and clever percussives. These create a dramatic setting for harmonic vocals that tell strangely charming stories about a bullet's trip through a brain, breakdancing fame, or a teenage runaway's journey home.
A native Texan, Parker moved to Portland seeking a change in scenery and perspective, at which time he began work on the material that would become Popstar. This dramatic move informed a narrative thread in the album that winds through dirty violence and pure love, blind rebellion and simple reality. Meanwhile, Parker's musical collaborator and fellow Texan, Mica Rapstine, has been undertaking his own journey. Rapstine left Texas traveling east to complete a Master's degree at Yale, where, under the influence of the New Haven and New York composition scene, he began rethinking his approach to writing music. Encouraged by Parker's work on The TMC project, Rapstine left academia to devote his energy to music, relocating to Portland to join The Truly Me Club. Completing the on-stage presentation are the remarkable musicians Josh Steiner (The Author) and Tony Moreno (Norfolk & Western).
Portland Mercury
The Truly Me Club's new record, Popstar on the Lam, sounds like O.C. soundtrack music made by Smile-era Beach Boys. (It's no coincidence that they have a song called "Californ-i-aye.") It's soft, gooey, sunny stuff with ample amounts of Ben Gibbardian vocals, fey little toy pianos, and purring Rhoades keyboards. But there are also lyrics about breakdancing, sudden killer-bee attacks of sampled strings, and crackly, kinda clumsy (in a good way) laptop beats.
Spill Magazine
Jason Parker, multi-instrumentalist and The Truly Me Club brainchild, is nothing short of curious. His debut effort, Popstars on the Lam, is a perfect soundtrack for morning after coffee sips and jaded walks through busy cities long after closing time. Swimming in a sea of mediocre singer/songwriters, TTMC keeps afloat long enough to gain the listener’s trust. All tracks on the album blend together to create a full sound of organ driven, orchestral pop (Brings to mind a stripped-down Sufjan Stevens album). But what drives the curiosity about Parker’s music is his lyrical content and song titles. Songs like “When the Cops Use Their Guns” – a graphical look at a bullets journey or “Cal-ifor-Ni-Ay” – a chance at break dancing fame. TTMC will likely become a staple of any singer/songwriter collection, so you might as well buy the album now, before radio is plagued with cheap remixes.
Seattle Weekly
Finding your place in life or finding someone to love may be an uphill battle, but Portland’s The Truly Me Club, the soul-searching vehicle of multi-instrumentalist Jason Parker, knows this. With a few of his multi-instrumentalist friends along for the ride, Parker gives a sense of redemption to those who are starting over or are just picking up the pieces from where they left off. Despite its somewhat dour outlook, their just-released debut, Popstar on the Lam, is a beautiful, gentle, dreamy slice of heaven, with soaring harmonic vocal narratives, and piano, percussion, harmonica, guitar, bass, bells, and electronic effects encapsulated inside the lush, twinkling orchestrations. Shoe-gazers and bedroom-pop fans, this might just be the one you’re searching for.
Big Takeover
This Portland Duo, of Jason Parker and Mica Rapstine, with, admittedly, most of the sounds being offered from Jason, puts out a nice and mellow flow of songs that manage to touch the listener with a very personal and gentle feeling. Something about the structure and delivery brings to mind a quieter Death Cab For Cutie, but there’s also a sad river of distant blues that rolls beneath the soft roll of sound. The songs are deceptively simple and straightforward, moving delicate but with purpose. If a popstar did go on the lam, the songs written would be like this. They could become pop songs, but that would attract too much attention. This is pop incognito, and the songs drift and lull you to a wakefulness that’s between dreams.
