Thanks to good friend Chris DeLuca, who writes the highly entertaining/crude “What Sucks…” blog (among several other things…), I was introduced to Brooklyn-based comedian/songwriter Rob Paravonian – an anomaly in the comedic music scene we’ve become accustomed to over the past few years. Paravonian, who’s appeared on Comedy Central and opened several shows for Carlin on his final tour, makes music that doesn’t come off as a complete joke from the outset, a la Flight of the Conchords or The Lonely Island. The sound is a modern take on 90’s catchy soft punk, power-pop with elaborate arrangements. And then of course, if you listen closely enough, you’ll have a difficult time holding a straight face (in the good way – not the wtffff?? way.)
That’s not to say there aren’t tracks that are more spoken word than song (I provided one below in “Pushing Band Candy”) on Paravonian’s forthcoming album, Songs From The Second Floor (to be released September 15,) but in general, Paravonian certainly accomplishes his goal of wanting to “marry catchy (mostly) power-pop with standup worthy lyrics.” You’ll have to decide for yourself what “standup worthy” means (the good stand-up comedians are often few and far between…) but for me Paravonian is one of those good guys. “Less From You,” while highly musical, is a spoof of the typical pop-punk songs we hear about the whiny guy being able to move on without his girlfriend, but set entirely to a stranger on facebook whose news feed fills up the entire page. I’m sure you can relate – we all have annoying (facebook) friends like those, because, well, FACEBOOK IS LIFE (joke, joke – it’s all about Twitter these days.)
he’s funnayyyyyyyyyyy