Dan Friel - Obsoleter (Spooky Tree, 2009)

Dan Friel - Pink Helicopters


It’s harsh and melodic, massive and hollow, gritty and lush, and creates hypnotically blissful ear candy that spans the grand desert jungle.

Full review on diskant.

Celebrity Bros

This has been bugging me. Like, forever. I knew Dan Friel, aka Mr. Parts & Labor man, author of the Ghost Town, electronic mayhem wizard, looked familiar. Lo and behold, a late night viewing of the comedy classic about highway shenanigans Super Troopers brought to my attention just who Friel reminded me of. Paul Soter. The one who gets with the hot cop. So here's my theory. These guys are real life bros. I'm not talking identical twins or nothing (that's gay), I'm just saying Soter's mom and dad were also Friel's mom and dad. Come on guys, back me up on this one.

Soter photo via The Sampler, Friel photo via Pooneh

Dan Friel - Ghost Town

Dan Friel - Desert Song


My love for Parts & Labor knows no bounds. Seriously. I can't get enough of them. And it seems like the two mainstays in P&L, Dan Friel and BJ Warshaw, like to do their own thing as well, as BJ has recorded under the Shooting Spires alias and Friel releases stuff under his own name. And, thankfully, when on their own, they still end up sounding a bit like P&L. What that means for me (and you too, I guess) is more of the noisy pop of P&L without having to wait a few years in between each official record.

Friel's recent solo outing is Ghost Town. It sounds like a more electronic Parts & Labor sans vocals. From what I hear and read, it seems like I'm the only person in existence who actually likes the singing in P&L, so if you're anyone other than me, this will probably be a relief to you.

There are parts on Ghost Town that sound like they're actually from P&L songs, the melodies specifically. The melody in "One Legged Cowboy" sounds an awful lot like the opening to "Ghosts Will Burn." I'm not complaining, though. This is definitely a different enough record to please me and not make me think I'm listening to Stay Afraid or anything like that.

I assume this is redundant, but I just want to say it again. I love everything Parts & Labor. I love Shooting Spires, I love Dan Friel, and if (original drummer) Chris Weingarten ever released a solo record, I would undoubtedly love that, too. Ghost Town is a kick ass addition to the (hopefully) neverending catalogue of Parts & Labor records and spinoff records.