Park Ave - When Jamie Went To London...

Park Ave is a previous band of Conor Oberst, the now 27 year old genius behind the soon-to-be-gigantic Bright Eyes and one time project Desaparecidos.

Park Ave, with Oberst on drums and backing vocals at an age that must be close to 20, was something of a one time project as well. Before this only record available came out, singer Jamie went to London and the band broke up, hence the title of this record.

It is a shame, because Park Ave has been given an insane amount of praise by critics and the ever demanding indie-scene. Instead of complicated long songs or emotionally driven acoustic sets, something new fans of Conor Oberst might expect, what we have here is a collection of short pop songs that are so honest and simple that they do the trick perhaps even better than the alcoholic- and drugs-driven material of later Oberst. The child-like way themes like love and the life of an artist are portrayed here are quite something to behold.

So, it is indeed a shame this band broke up. Of course there is still plenty of chance to check out Oberst with his Bright Eyes project and even Jamie is busy again with the popular indie-band Tilly and the Wall, but for fans its nice to delve back in the roots of these artists and check out Park Ave. Team Love, the fairly new record label of Oberst has re-issued this album to make it more available so you could do worse than checking out the website to buy this rare piece of indie history.

8/10