POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Parker Mellowed, but a Spark Remains

The ‘90s have given us a much-mellowed Graham Parker, never more so than on his new album, “12 Haunted Episodes,” with its gentle, autumnal glow.

And yet, at 45, Parker remains ever the contrarian. The angry young bolt-thrower of the 1970s may have given way to a more ruminative artist at middle age, but Parker still likes to put up a crusty front.

Facing about 400 fans on Saturday at the Coach House, the veteran English rocker facetiously declared that “Episodes” was only a misbegotten attempt at grunge that somehow wound up sounding like a Donovan record. He also made many a barbed reference to his long series of disappointments in the pop marketplace, a track record that finally has shaken him out of the majors and landed him with a tiny record company, Razor & Tie.

But Parker, who also played at the House of Blues on Friday, always has been more complex than the labels he has been saddled with (and sometimes cultivated). Ultimately, his concert rose from a too-temperate beginning to a memorable conclusion because he was able to get beyond such handy tags as “angry young man” and “mellowed at midlife” by lending a soul singer’s conviction and a tasteful eclectic’s wide array of musical approaches to new songs as well as old.

Through the first half of his nearly two-hour set, Parker walked mainly on the mild side, to pleasant but seldom grabbing effect, although it quickly became clear that the singer-guitarist’s three-man backup band had skills to burn. Eventually the band, and Parker’s fabled passionate force, were unleashed. It paid off in the exceptional soul music of “Fly” and “Wake Up (Next to You),” an intense “Get Started (Start a Fire),” which rode a tough, Memphis R&B; groove, and the churning, hard-edged reggae beat of “Protection.” Mellowed, yes--but not terminally.