Graham Parker and the Rumour’s second post-reunion album, Mystery Glue, is due out May 18th. The Rumour was pre-punk singer-songwriter Graham Parker’s backing band from 1975 to 1980, consisting of Andrew Bodnar, Bob Andrews, Brinsley Schwarz, Martin Belmont, and Stephen Goulding. Brinsley Schwartz alone is noteworthy as one of Britain’s best power pop/pub rock guitarists. The Rumour provided a sharp backbone for Parker’s already biting but soulful songs, precisely the kind hardcore Parker fans like Bruce Springsteen, Joe Jackson, Nick Lowe, Paul Weller, Pixies’ Black Francis, and Elvis Costello enjoyed more success playing. Rick Springfield always counted Graham Parker and the Rumour as a major influence and one of the artists he was listening to when he wrote his own breakthrough album Working Class Dog. Graham and the band parted ways in 1980, and he emigrated to upstate New York. It can’t be overstated what a long hoped-for and delightful occurrence their 2012 reunion was for fans, even if it just started off as an appearance in Judd Apatow’s somewhat lackluster movie about mid-life crises, This is 40. It led to the recording of Three Chords Good, Parker’s first album with the Rumour since 1980’s The Up Escalator, and a small tour, followed by sporadic gigs together, and now Mystery Glue.
The first video from Mystery Glue is “Railroad Spikes,” a shuffling, light-hearted overview of the rise and fall of trains in America. Parker and The Rumour sound as though they are still having a wonderful time performing together again.
A documentary about Graham Parker’s career, Don’t Ask Me Questions: The Unsung Life of Graham Parker and The Rumour, has finally been released on DVD as well:
