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Theory of a Deadman won recording of the year for Scars and Souvenirs at the seventh annual Western Canadian Music Awards, reports CBC. The awards, held Sunday at the Manitoba Centennial Auditorium, featured 22 Western-Canadian artists nominated for 14 awards in different musical categories.

Marianas Trench’s Masterpiece Theatre won pop recording of the year, while Manitoba trio Doc Walker won country recording of the year. The band was also named group of the year last week at the Canadian Country Music Awards in Vancouver.

Celtic singer Loreena McKennitt received the Hall of Fame award.

Some bands are very tricky to describe, but that’s not the case for The Parlor Mob. The band consider themselves a rock group, and they have every right to call themselves one. The rockers — who’ve already been compared to Led Zeppelin by critics and fans alike — are currently on tour with Theory of a Deadman.

“It’s straight ahead rock n’ roll man. Kind of like rock n’ roll before all of the sub genres,” says The Parlor Mob bassist Nick Villapiano on the phone from New Jersey. The band — who were previously known as What About Frank? — formed in 2004 after Mark Melicia, David Rosen, Paul Ritchie Sam Bey and Villapiano came together in their home state of New Jersey.

“We hated that name,” Villapiano admits. “We thought it was kind of hokey and stupid, and it didn’t really represent what we were doing musically anymore. So pretty much when we got the first opportunity to make the change, we did.”

After changing their name to The Parlor Mob (based on a 19th century gang), the band also endured what they thought would be a big career change. “We signed a developmental deal with Capitol Records in what later on turned out to kind of be a move for them to sign us so that other labels couldn’t,” the bassist tells andPOP. “And it kind of let us record an EP and just put us on the shelf, didn’t release it, didn’t put us out on tour.”

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Theory of a Deadman had a simple but daunting goal for its third album: to make the greatest record possible.

“I always try to remind the guys and myself that there are 20 bands lined up behind us just waiting for a chance to take our place,” says frontman Tyler Connolly.
“So that means we had to go in there and make a great record.” With Scars & Souvenirs, the Vancouver trio has hit its mark.

The balanced 13-track effort is the polished and passionate testament to seven years of hard work, heavy touring and diligent attention to its craft. From the swirling grind of “By the Way” to the nasty snarl of “Crutch” to the soaring melodicism of “Not Meant to Be” and “Wait For Me,” Scars And Souvenirs is a broad-reaching endeavor that puts Connolly, guitarist Dave Brenner and bassist Dean Back high in the rock pantheon, achieving creative growth without sacrificing the hard-hitting power that got them here in the first place.

andPOP sat down with the band in Toronto to talk about the album.