Do you ever feel that the identity of music has been floundering the past year or so? Bands born with lots of hype are continuing to disappoint with sophomore releases, and performances based solely on booting up a MacBook are becoming more and more prevalent. Well, chin up, the tables are turning with bands like Them Crooked Vultures, The Dead Weather, and The Parlor Mob.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Mark Melicia, lead singer of The Parlor Mob, about this rebirth of rock and roll. He stated, “The great part about playing just rock and roll, which is what we set out to play, gives us the opportunity to fit in anywhere. Most of the music out there has roots in rock and roll, and now more than ever bands are going back to playing straightforward rock; more and more audiences opening up and more bands are coming out on a larger level to playing this style.”

To present more music to this growing collection of rock The Parlor Mob released their first full-length And You Were a Crow earlier this year on Roadrunner Records. Balls-out guitar playing, wailing vocals, and steady driving drums is exciting with what this band is bringing to the table these days. But no rest for this outfit: surrounding their Austin City Limits festival performance they spent time in San Marcos, Texas writing for their next release.

“We’re definitely starting to look toward the next record, hopefully to record the early part of next year,” says Melicia. “Just depends on how much time we get off to get the material together and all on the same page, being on tour the past year and a half for this record. But [during] this period that we’ll be in Texas we’ll start really getting some solid stuff. It’ll still be The Parlor Mob music, obviously, but we want to grow and do things; we all have aspirations and to creatively grow together. Our goal is always to take a step in a direction to make our next record better than the last one.”

Add to the roster some upcoming shows in Europe supporting And You Were a Crow: “We couldn’t be more excited — we got a great reception when we went there for just 10 days in the spring. We’re overjoyed to be getting back there. To be able to travel around Europe with five of your best friends and just play music and be able to do it as your job is just kind of mind-blowing.”

For the gear nerd in all of us, the guys were happy to run down the line and share some of their favorite gear. On stage you will see an Orange OR-50 and 8200 a Fender DeVille, and Gretsch drums.

These five guys — guitarists Paul Ritchie and David Rosen, drummer Sam Bey, bassist Nick Villapiano, and vocalist Mark Melicia — came together with the purpose of friends making music. Not even experiences with changing labels, managers, and music industry woes would stand in their way.

“Some of us were in other bands in high school back in a small music community in New Jersey, but the key for us staying together the way we have is respecting one another,” explains Mark. “We put a lot of weight in that, and making sure we’re all mindful of each other’s feelings. We’re all like best friends; when we’re home we all hang out all the time. It’s fairly easy for us. We all hung out, and would hang out anyway.

“These days it’s harder than ever for a band to really get themselves out there,” he continues. “There are so many bands and so few opportunities. We just try and concentrate on playing. For us this has brought us closer together. When stuff hits the fan, we look towards one another more and more.”

So it sounds like we have many years to look forward to music and performances by The Parlor Mob, and you must catch one of those live performances when they’re in a town near you. The intensity of their live show, the air moving around you with huge waves of sound, and their energy will bring you back for more real rock and roll.