Song of the Day: The Parlor - The Surgeon’s Knife

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is “The Surgeon’s Knife” by The Parlor from the 2015 album Wahzu Wahzu, on B3nson.

The Parlor - The Surgeon’s Knife (MP3)

Step into The Parlor, and you'll find this New York-based act bring a DFA Records-dance groove to their homespun trance-folk sound. This husband-and-wife duo of Eric Krans and Jen O’Connor did indeed write these songs in a parlor, of their 19th century haunted farmhouse. With Mercury Rev's Anthony Molina as producer, they've taken a turn from the folksy sound of previous releases, turning to artists like Michael Jackson, The Go-Go's, and Talking Heads for inspiration. Today's Song of the Day has been called "campfire disco." In an interview with The Wild Honey Pie, O'Connor says, "We like that. It’s probably one of the happiest sounding songs we’ve ever written, but we were writing this song (and most of the songs on our new record Wahzu Wahzu) when we were experiencing a lot of loss and a lot of stress. There’s a point where your body won’t allow itself to experience any more trauma and the only way to feel alive is to be joyful. Allowing yourself to sing and to dance is the fastest way to shake yourself out of a painful situation… but of course, there are still the reminders that life isn’t normal."

No shows on the horizon yet for 2016, but keep watch on their Twitter and Facebook. In the meantime, check out this video for today's Song of the Day. O'Connor explains, "For Eric’s birthday, we threw a party and shot this music video. We have a lot of incredibly talented friends who took part and made it possible. The video was filmed with the help of our friends at The Foundry for Art Design + Culture and stars a lot of awesome people from the creative community here in Upstate New York."