Graham Parker

This is Parker’s second release on Chicago’s Bloodshot and the first time he’s recorded with the Figgs on a studio album. The disc opens with "Vanity Press” — Parker’s zeitgeist song of our capitalist and materialist times, which features such great lines as: "It’s gotta be a puff piece/that only shows the best/about the war next door/” and "Now you’re working for the vanity press/leave your conscience on the editor’s desk.” From there, the blades get sharper, and the songs only get better. The next track ("Bad Chardonnay”) is a straight-ahead rocker with a punk-infused attitude that echoes the Ramones. Here, the songsmith shares the secret of his success — cigarettes and bad Chardonnay. Showing his diverse influences, other highlights are the reggae-soaked "Evil,” and the Bob Dylan flavoured "Dislocated Life.” Even though witty wordsmith Parker has been rocking and rolling for the past 30 years, he shows on Songs of No Consequence that his muse is still alive and kicking with the same sarcasm and sense of humour that has marked his career.