“Things are gonna chaaaayaaayaaaAhaaang….” crooned sweaty East Nashville rock and rollers, The Paranormals, on their 2012 EP “American Spirit.” The nearly two-year process of recording the follow-up proved this prediction true.
“We were like a train with no breaks, throwing ideas out like madmen, leaving songs in pieces by the wayside. We couldn’t stop. It was like two different bands making three different records,” says front-man David Sutton.
Sutton, along with brother-in-law and guitar player Jarrod Randall have been the constants in shifting times for the band. Meanwhile, Sutton stayed visible in the music landscape by drumming for Music City’s folk rock family band, Lulu Mae. It was there that he was introduced to Anthony Mangin, guitar, and Ben Smith, bass, and enlisted the two in the new ranks of The Paranormals.
Smith touts, “it’s a straightforward, no-frills, dirty rock and roll band. That sound is coming back; those bands were not the norm in Nashville for a while. It’s refreshing and exhilarating to be a part of that.”
The search for harmony between The Paranormals, new and old, stretched the definition of a sound that each member played an essential role in developing. Mangin added, “We all have an equal opportunity to create something, to veto, to critique and encourage. It’s a great democratic vibe and for us. I believe it works really well.” The articulate influence of producers Todd Evans and Troy Deaton, members of Nashville’s The Golden Sounds, furthered the sharpening of the proverbial sonic axe…or Tomahawk.
The Paranormals spritzed on a dab of their patented Eau de Dave Grohl cologne, oozed attitude and rocked their new songs out for the free world at the record release party on July 5. Tomahawk is available for stream or download online.
Lockeland Springsteen 
did you get the new Howlin’ Brothers CD?