Like Joe Hawley (of Tally Hall), I’m also fond of the classic yet progressive rock ‘n’ roll band, The Parlor Mob (Pictured).

Their album And You Were A Crow was released March ‘08, the band’s first under the moniker “The Parlor Mob.” This New Jersey five-piece may share a record label with Nickleback (Roadrunner Records), but please don’t hold that against them. They are not creating song after hokey song that all sound the same. They are genuinely expressing themselves and enjoying every minute. Guitarist Dave Rosen explains their performance style quite well:

“At no point are we going through the motions. We don’t concentrate on making things sound like the record. It’s free-form for us. We consider ourselves a live band. People are going to get all of our energy.”

Distinguishable energy is boldly felt throughout the crowd at their live show. Bassist Nick Villapiano’s constant wide grin is contagious. Shoulder length or longer hair flings around the stage as guitarist Paul Richie and vocalist Mark Melicia bang their heads in time. The spectacle encourages your own noggin to do the same. When I looked around at the 8,000 or so observers at Lollapalooza, it was clear everyone in attendance was on the same happy page. My blissful feeling may have been heightened due to my achievement of aging another year. The unblemished vibes on stage must have been raised because it was Dave’s birthday, too.

Here’s a video of some footage I found on Youtube to help you understand. Aly and I must have only been standing a few feet behind this person because it is exactly how I remember it.

The Merry Andrews got drummer Sam Bey on the phone for an interview on Episode 22 (listen here). We talked about their experience at the festival and how their name means business. They are indeed a mob and are to be taken seriously. Sam is lucky to have this job because he says he is not very good at anything else and does not want to be a stripper. He clarifies the band is influenced by all good music and a lot of that happens to come from the 60’s/70’s eras.

New music is highly present in their lives as well, specifically the likes of Nicole Atkins and The Gay Blades, among many other talented musicians. They are apart of an artist community called The Good Crust in which they all support and collaborate with each other.

Within the slew of scantily clad drunks (not many attractive ones), beads and boob flashing at Tampa’s Guavaween this past October, I met with The Parlor Mob. They opened for Puddle of Mud. I missed the young men’s set this time but drank warm-ish Natural Ice (or some similarly cheap domestic beer) with them and tried to block out the god-awful noise coming from the main stage we were sitting behind. I met the infamous Frank, an old friend of the band that inspired their first name, What About Frank?. He is now a school teacher, lives in our neighborhood and is a skilled joke teller.

New World Brewery is where you can see the band play live February 12. Be sure to come out and wear your hair loose.

I woke from a night of Irish whiskey drinking to a throat that was pained to swallow. My dear friend, Toby, sent me along my way with two packets of Emergen-C to drink with in my day. He also asked me “Do you want a banana?” I knew it was going to be a good day. Friends that care about and influence your well being are beneficial to have around. Friends that unintentionally push your play button and endure your raspy, slightly hung-over, under the weathered version of the whimsical Tally Hall song “Banana Man“- I would say you should try to keep them around as long as they’ll stand you.

Tally Hall (pictured above) is responsible for a bulk of my amusement. Whether I am serenading the empty pub in the morning when I sing along to their album, Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum (MMMM) as I open, or I’m locked into the latest episode of the Tally Hall Internet Show (THIS), I’m always entertained. When Twitter notifies me the band has posted a new blog, you better believe I jet right over to check it. The peeks into their personalities that they provide are playful and clever. They are that gelastic in person too. Fellow Merry Andrew, Aly, and I were instantly drawn to them when we first met at Lollapalooza in Chicago this August. Two gentlemen in black slacks, white button up shirts and solid color coded ties approached us in the media area. Toting a Blender microphone and camera, they asked us what we thought of the band Ludo, which we responded “Ludo who?” This pleased the young men. Then we insisted on turning the tables and interviewing them, demanding to know more about the secret society their uniform obviously suggested they belonged to. Andrew Horowitz (green tie) and Zubin Sedghi (blue tie) informed us there were 3 others that completed the “Marionette quintette”. They then invited us to watch them play their instruments and sing their songs on the BMI stage the next day at 1:45 p.m.

Joe Hawley (red tie), Ross Federman (grey tie), Rob Cantor (yellow tie), Andrew and Zubin all attended college at the University of Michigan and began playing music together in 2002. Their band bio has their lives linked through mutual friends as far back as their middle school days. Their album is named after an existing extensive collection of mechanical games and animatronic dummies located in Farmington Hills, Mich., in a mini-mall the band titled themselves after. They share song writing responsibilities, which accounts for the eclectic selection of songs on MMMM. From emotive to philosophical to witty and silly they each bring an appealing quality to the Tally Hall table.

I met with these creative souls again on my last trip to New York. I separated from my crew and braved the subway alone to meet Andrew, Zubin, and Joe in Williamsburg. We walked to Union Pool for some beers and a beseeching place to conduct our interview. I learned they moved there to be around more culture and artistic happening. Joe missed the Earthen Jar’s delicious food, professors talking about interesting things and the nature in Michigan, but relocating to New York seemed to be the band’s natural progression. Details on the brainstorming process for their next album would not be shared (Andrew feared I might steal the ideas). Fans can, however, look forward to a highly collaborative reinvention of the fabloo rock we’re used to.

We also chatted about magic, cursing, and how you’d have to be dumb not to vote for Obama (the interview was held the date of the first debate). Joe has gotten into The Parlor Mob’s classic 60’s/70’s rock sound recently as well as Spinto Band’s latest, Mookwink. He also shared with me later that he was star struck when stumbling upon the girls of the Ditty Bops. Andrew is big fan of Blitzen Trapper. Zubin has been listening to a lot of Girl Talk and Fleet Foxes. No one is listening to Ludo. I chose to protest against The Jonas Brothers and TH’s instinct to interview kicked in. Zubin took the reins of the camera man and I shit talked the Disney-funded teenage heartthrobs. Andrew wanted to know if I’d seen their internet show. I continuously and selfishly misinterpreted this as his misunderstanding of what The Merry Andrews show is all about. I was distracted by Joe asking if I would go on a date with all of them. These men are dangerously charming.

Once I slipped out of dodo mode, I realized I was being informed of a series of sketch comedy internet episodes that would bring me great joy in the coming weeks. This being news to me garnered a reprimand from Andrew for not doing my research, which stimulated a slap to the ear from Zubin for speaking harshly to me. The ear suction slap is the worst. I sympathized as he whined about still hearing a buzz and rushed over to lend a magical healing kiss. “You owe me” blurts Zubin.

I end the interview and agree to a date that night. We then headed to Ross and Rob’s apartment for an evening of wine, cheese, and various friends popping in. Joe’s birthday was celebrated, he got a fancy juicer (he related to me earlier he visits Juice Bars daily, so I knew how satisfactory this gift was) wrapped in paper adorned with half-naked buff men. Zubin created game pieces out of the squares that contained the men and we played a round or two of “Who is hotter?”. I lost. The night was the highlight of my short stay in the city.

Besides the jovial content of the Tally Hall Internet Show, one of the best parts is that the episodes are all available to watch on the band’s website. So you need not fret that you’ve missed the first eight of the 10 — you will not be lost. Each episode is around ten minutes, so catching up won’t take you long. They describe the show as one about everything. Kind of the opposite of Seinfeld, a show about nothing. Music videos are debuted in a handful and you will be pleasantly kept on the edge of your seat as they bring you an intense variety of stories and skits. Watch the THIS trailer below, then visit www.tallyhall.com to be fully amused.