By Andrew Bansal
April 18th 2014, The Satellite, Los Angeles CA: Australian thrash/grind quintet King Parrot landed in North America about six weeks ago, began their trek in California and after crisscrossing the continent through this period, they are now back here for the final few shows of this long run with tour mates Vattnet Viskar. The touring duo played at the Satellite in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles along with local opener Drop Tank. Both King Parrot and Vattnet Viskar are young in their career but have developed a reputation solely based on the strength of their live shows, and having never seen either of them before, I went into this show with much anticipation.
Drop Tank, a barebones rock ‘n roll band comprising two Los Angeles-based Australians, opened this show. For them it meant a great deal to be sharing this stage with their compatriots in King Parrot, and even though they played to a nearly empty venue, their performance took the handful of attendees by surprise and they managed to impress one and all with their simple but easily enjoyable presentation of rock ‘n roll. Their lineup consists of a female vocalist/guitarist and a male drummer, and the music had an old-school Runaways vibe to it with traces of punk and bands like KISS and Motörhead. Sure enough, they even played a cover of Motörhead’s ‘Ace Of Spades’ in their 30-minute set. The combination of the guitar tone and the multitude of effect pedals on the frontwoman’s pedalboard more than made up for the absence of a bassist, and the drummer proved to be an ideal complement to the guitar and vocals with his distinguishably organic approach. Drop Tank was a real bonus for attendees at this show, and I’d certainly be keeping a tab on their local activities from now on.
Visit Drop Tank on the web:
DropTankOfficial.com
facebook.com/DropTank
twitter.com/DropTank
instagram.com/DropTankOfficial
Next up, New Hampshire’s Vattnet Viskar took the stage to change the pace and mood altogether with their brand of atmospheric black metal. They’ve been a band for a little over three years and released their debut full-length ‘Sky Swallower’ via Century Media Records in 2013. They’ve been on an extensive touring run of late, and despite finding themselves touring with a band that’s very far away from them on the heavy music spectrum, based on this performance of theirs it’s safe to say that they’re winning plenty of new fans on this tour. Their music came across as undeniably powerful, and in addition to the standard black metal elements, there were hypnotically ethereal passages, along with some massive guitar riffs that gave it a bit of a doom/sludge feel at times. The half-hour set seemed to fly by really quickly, but the 13-minute closing tune ‘Barren Earth’ was the perfect culmination to it. This band’s music is extreme metal sans the satanic themes or the visual aspect of corpse paint, costumes or anything of that nature, and quite naturally, parallels can be drawn between Vattnet Viskar and Deafheaven. Vattnet Viskar proves that when it comes to this genre, the music can speak for itself and doesn’t require anything else to enhance its impact. Although the costumed satanic variety of extreme music will always have its following and rightly so, it’s heartening to see a new breed of bands like Vattnet Viskar come to the fore with a different, and in many ways a more powerful interpretation of it.
Visit Vattnet Viskar on the web:
VattnetViskar.com
VattnetViskar.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/VattnetViskar
twitter.com/VattnetViskar
And finally at 11 o’ clock, King Parrot came on to thump this stage with an insanely energetic and fun-filled 30-minute set that had this audience cheering them all the way throughout. They brought forth a great blend of humor and intensity in their unbridled thrash-fueled grindcore, and after seeing them just this one time alone, I have no hesitation in deeming them as one of the most entertaining live metal bands to have surfaced in the recent past. Frontman Matt Young led the way, not only by delivering his vocals exactly how the musical style would demand it, but with his on-stage mannerisms and antics, which included diving into the crowd, riding on the shoulders of a fan in the front-row, doing a one-arm handstand, and even dancing with the waitress of the venue, all while continuing to sing. To form a perfect ally to him, bassist Slatts spewed hilarious jokes in between songs and with his humorous disposition he was almost like an Australian version of Jeff Walker. King Parrot clearly have everything it takes to represent this genre, and I can foresee them returning to the States several times and getting on bigger tours.
The show was a highly enjoyable treat with three wildly different bands, but it was sad to note the poor turnout. To me, when I think about it from the bands’ perspective, there is nothing more depressing than to be at a good show with a poor turnout. This King Parrot/Vattnet Viskar/Drop Tank show might win the ‘best show that no one saw’ award category this year, but I have no doubt all three bands will play better attended shows in Los Angeles in the not-too-distant future.
Interview with Matt Young coming soon
Visit King Parrot on the web:
facebook.com/KingParrotBand
twitter.com/KingParrotBand
Set List:
01. Dead End
02. Cold Steel Probe
03. What You Need
04. Epileptic Butcher
05. No Coincidence
06. Blaze
07. Lawnmower Dog
08. Silly Ol’ Mate
09. Bozo
10. Sun In The Sea
11. Lizard
12. The Stench Of Hardcore Pub Trash
13. Hell Comes Your Way
14. Psychotherapy And Valium
15. Shit On The Liver
Remaining Tour Dates:
4/19/2014 Franks Place – Fresno, CA
4/20/2014 Soda Bar – San Diego, CA
Visit the Satellite on the web:
TheSatelliteLA.com
facebook.com/TheSatelliteLA
twitter.com/TheSatelliteLA
instagram.com/TheSatelliteLA