"a must see live band." Q Magazine

"pure adrenaline inducing, effervescent, speeding enthusiasm" The Sun

Late 2004 and Parka lead singer/songwriter Matt Thomson, becoming tired of his music studies at Perth College of Music, decides to head back to sunny Glasgow and put his collection of home recordings to good use. Music shops, internet and colleges were scoured for players and finally February 2005 saw the birth of Parka as a 4 piece indie/electro rock outfit with the smiley energy of a drummer called Neil, the calm presence of bassist Ian, and the eerie strangeness of a keyboard technocrat named Mark. Now, with the addition of mystery man Mr X on Sax, Parka are as lively as a bag of cats.

In April 2006 they were offered a single deal for their original demo and manic anthem 'Disco Dancer' through influential tastemaker 7" label Worst Case Scenario. Summer 2006 brought Parka to London in preparation for their debut single where they found themselves living in an old strip club in Whitechapel, resplendent with pole in the living room and chair screwed to the floor outside the shower cubicle! First time guests to the Parka residence must perform at least one initiation pole dance for the band.

'Disco Dancer' took many by surprise, winning Zane Lowe's Fresh Meat on Radio 1, getting playlisted on XFM with the video (complete with balloon drum kit, guitar and sax) making it onto The Box and Q.

The bigger labels came calling and Jeepster won the race for their signature whilst the band continued to claim London's indie clubs as their own, toured with Boy Kill Boy, opened for The Automatic, The Enemy, Foals and The Young Knives.

The last few months have been a whirlwind of success for Parka who, having taken part in their first nationwide tour, saw their debut jeepster single 'If You Wanna?' shoot to number 11 in the indie charts. During this time the band not only played their strangest gig yet at UK music expo The Great Escape where they entertained muso's and hen parties alike at Brighton Pier's Horatio's Bar but were also heralded as the hottest new band by Q Magazine.

Parka have spent the summer recording their debut album with Iain Gore (Rumble Strips, Kid Harpoon, Blood Red Shoes) at Miloco Studios in London and now head out on the road to rid themselves of studio cabin fever.

Hailing from Scotland but now based in East London, Parka have toured with the likes of Switches, Foals, Boy Kill Boy and The Young Knives already this year and amassed more and more supporters along the way. Their recent Xfm Scotland session saw the band cover Shakira's 'Hips Don't Lie' and had the studio rolling about in hysterics by the time they got to the chorus, Parka have also been featured in the Hot News Ones in the NME chart on MTV2 with the angular video for previous single 'If You Wanna?'.