Sam Cook-Parrott, who records under the pseudonym Radiator Hospital, recently moved to Philly from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and just released his third EP of 2012 last month entitled Some Distant Moon. The record is merely four tracks, and ends long before you actually want it to – barley running over six minutes. It pulls you in from the very first listen forcing you to play it over and over again getting deeper and deeper into each song.
Opening track “Dead As Dreams” from the get-go interrelates the space theme found on the EP’s cover art and in its title by blasting into power chords and drums and lyrics like “I want to be the shooting star, I want to be the astronaut.” However, the album is actually more about the journey of finding love and the strange loneliness that can occur while trying to reach the final destination, even though you have someone there by your side. The protagonists go from laying beside a “cool girl” while not actually feeling happy (“Some Distant Moon”) to finding more connection with a dead childhood idol than the actual relationships with people in his own life (“Andy Griffith”) to the desire to kiss a person while knowing it’s a really bad idea (“A Game Of You”). The inner struggles that Cook-Parrett goes through with his tales and his unique ability to share raw emotions with others in such a way that many artists cannot is what makes this record so charming and endearing. Also, heartbreaking material like this rarely feels this much fun – a testament to his ability to compose such fine lo-fi, power-pop little ditties.
You can “name your price” and download Some Distant Moon at Radiator Hospital’s Bandcamp or purchase a copy of it on 7” vinyl via Forward Records. – H.M. Kauffman