Brendan Crabb, Journalist

Grothe’s presence ensures some marketability, but flickers of real promise and a few genuine winners will ensure their tunes won’t merely be relegated to televised sporting montages and highlights packages.

"I teach middle school in what you would call more of a projects kind of suburb, so these kids, they’re pretty young, they listen more to R&B and hip hop, not death metal. They think it’s cool, but I try to not focus so much upon it, because suddenly you’re the cool teacher and it’s… yeah."

"I think the US I have a love-hate relationship with. You drive through and have experiences and think, ‘What the hell is wrong with this country?’... I’m not complaining about it at all. As long as I’m sitting in a tour bus and playing somewhere, I’m happy.”

"We just finished recording the 2013 release and it’s awesome, man. I wish I could explain it, but I can’t fill you in on the details too much, because it’s a while before it comes out."

Considering Parkway is touring with grander production values, they required the songs to match their vision. Now, they have them.

"That’s usually why everybody’s first record is everybody’s favourite too, because that’s the purest version of the band, you know what I mean?"

There isn’t a Kiss Klassic here, but a reasonable number of solid, albeit workmanlike songs.