Who: Parlour StepsWhere: EMP Sky ChurchWhen: 3:30 p.m.When the Parlour Steps hit the mark with a song, they really, truly hit the mark. One example is “Sleeping City”–performed about halfway through the Canadian’s band’s set at the Sky Church–a simple, melodic song with a finger-snapping beat. Once the chorus hits, and lead singer Caleb Stull and bass player Julie Bavalis sing, “Just you and me/ in the sleeping city,” I couldn’t resist tapping my feet and humming along. The same happened on “As the World Turned Out,” which Stull told the crowd was the band’s “most subversive song,” since it advocates turning off your cell phones and disregarding the media. Those lyrics might be subversive but the song–with a steady, drum-driven beat–is utterly contagious.The only trouble with Parlour Steps is that there just aren’t enough of these standout gems: in their hourlong set, only about two other songs really caught my attention; the rest were pretty standard chamber pop. But even those songs are ultimately charming and likable–as evidenced by the packed crowd at the Sky Church. Even the band members seem like kind of folks you’d want to grab a beer with. Stull, for example, kept cracking self-deprecating jokes about being Canadian and delivering one liners like this: “You guys are wonderful. We’d take you home with us, but there’d be border troubles.” See what I mean? Totally likable.
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