Album review: Parker Woodland ready for reckoning with socially conscious new EP

Austin’s favorite justice and joy rock trio, Parker Woodland, is back with their new EP, Police On My Back: Singles Collection Vol. 1, available July 24, 2026 on Flak Records. The album is available as a digital download on Bandcamp with sales of the single “Police on My Back” benefiting the Texas Civil Rights Project. The EP is also available on cassette and can be picked up at the album release on July 24 at Waterloo Records.

It’s been almost two years since the band released their debut, There’s No Such Thing As Time, establishing them as one of the freshest and most vital new acts in a city that has no shortage of new talent. Their signature punk-pop sound infused with social justice lyrics are both gritty and inspiring, refusing to look away from the big issues of the day without succumbing to desperation and despair. If Parker Woodland’s music has a central organizing theme, it’s the idea that music is essential for our survival… and they are survivors.

“Music helps keep me grounded,” drummer Keri Cinquina tells The Cosmic Clash. “It’s a great outlet for whatever it is you’re feeling, for any emotion – happy, sad, mad – whatever it is. There ‘s so much going on right now, and it’s disheartening, but it fuels such a fire with in this band to be activists and be pro-human, and bring people together. I really think music is the way.”

With Police On My Back: Singles Collection Vol. 1, Erin Walter (lead vocals, bass), Andrew Solin (guitar, backing vocals) and Keri Cinquina (drums, backing vocals) are working out their demons (and ours) with four, powerful new singles. “The Reckoning” kicks off with the sweet version of Walter’s voice weaving around Cinquina’s war drums, right before Solin’s rhythmic edgy guitar riffs into a song that is as much a call to march in the streets as it is to pack into the club. “Police On My Back” is a hearkening back to the sound of early 1980s post-punk alt-rock anthems born of the Gen X disdain for authority and the medicinal qualities of dancing in an overcrowded bar long before cellphones robbed us of our everyday freedoms. The other two singles, “Get Me To The Show” (Radio Mix), an anthem about women in rock, and “Holidays In Austin,” (“You can have hot cocoa / We’ll share our chips and queso / We’ll do the holidays in Austin our way), are joyful jams that prove the band plays just as hard as it works.In addition to the EP on cassette, the band is also releasing a reissue of their sold-out debut album on (purple!) vinyl on July 24.  Walter shared the reason why they decided to make this EP available as a digital download on Bandcamp as well as a cassette: “We’re seeing how Spotify obviously supports the war machine and AI, and we really want to give people a chance – whether it’s on vinyl, CD, cassette, or just a digital download – to physically own our music and not have to go through warlords. It brings me such joy to know that our music is going to be in the six indie record stores in town that we love to visit.”

As the country slogs through the second half of the ’20s, Parker Woodland shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, they seem to be building momentum, honing their sound and stage presence, showing up in more venues. Politics isn’t just an aesthetic for this band, which is good news for those of us who have always looked to music as inspiration to stand up for a better world.  After what feels like decades of mainstream music being co-opted by shareholders and algorithms, perhaps what we all need right now is an excuse to just show up for each other exactly as we are – tired, hopeful, and ready to rock n’ roll.

Get out there and see Parker Woodland:

In Store: 5 p.m. at Waterloo Records, Austin, Texas (7/24)
Frank Turner’s Lost Evenings IX Festival at Southside Ballroom , Dallas, Texas (9/26)

Featured photo by Troy Gonzales

Photo credit: Drew Doggett

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