Minneapolis Folking Rocks: The Parlor Suite and Horse And The Sea Play Tonight At The 400 Bar

The Parlour Suite


Horse In The Sea

Download: The Parlour Suite - "European Holiday"
Download: Horse In The Sea - "Vegas"

Fans of such alt-folk chanteuses as Neko Case and Haley Bonar should be climbing up the walls in order to hear The Parlour Suite, a Minneapolis-based trio comprising of three multi-instrumentalists. What's interesting about this group is that they do not have a drummer (well, at least in concert). Lacking a backbeat may sound like a weakness in theory, but, in practice, its clearly a strength, as it allows all attention to be focused on the gorgeous dual harmonies of band members Inga Roberts and Leah Nelson.

Those heartbreakingly angelic voices shine on songs such as "European Holiday", a song which can be found on their shortly forthcoming CD The Rainmaker. Giving the group a solid blues and ragtime foundation on which to rest is singer/guitarist Joel Roberts, who holds his own with his bandmates on tracks like "Gambling Man's Disgrace", a shambling, crazily catchy bit of depression-era folk. The Parlour Suite recall an old-timey, minimalist version of The New Pornographers, with effervescent harmonies and bouncy rhythms being the primary attraction of the Suite music.

The band is playing tonight at the 400 Bar. Also playing are Chicago (yay!) indie-folk group Horse In The Sea, who last fall put out their self-released I Order The Sun To Shine On Everyone. Adorable album title aside, the group is less up-with-people than one would assume. Though singer Joel Janis has a friendly tenor which at times recalls The Decemberists, and the title track is a pleasantly upbeat track, Horse In The Sea are a more introspective bunch. Tracks like "Mosquito King" ache with the gentleness which is intricately linked with the singer-songwriter genre.

Read a feature on Horse In The Sea at Reveille Magazine

Buy Tickets here for the 18+ show. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Horse In The Sea MySpace Page
The Parlour Suite MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)