Gareth K Vile takes a look at Cry Parrot.
Cry Parrot have been building a reputation in Glasgow for promoting both the local scene and international acts, mostly in a post-punk genre but incorporating bursts of twisted pop and funky energy. The headliners – Kit, from the USA and hailing from the same musical tradition as both Sonic Youth and Fugazi - emphasise that guitars, drums and howling vocals rarely go out of fashion in the Western world.
Although Fielding, Cry Parrot’s head honcho might claim “they are all supergroups”, first support band Neighbourhood Grout do feature members from the cream of Glasgow’s new wave. Their two guitar and drums line up is surprisingly funky, if angular: their number about an approaching tornado goes through the same rhythmic and mood shifts as Radiohead’s Paranoid Android of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, if in half the time and at a smarter lick. For all the roaring, squealing guitars and frantic percussion, Neighbourhood Grout are strangely charming: punk aggression is balanced by some cubist melodies and constant allusions to a pop sensibility.
The lack of bass guitar is more than made up by Divorce’s four person line up. The bass lines drive along their almost metal assaults. While they share the ferocious and funky drumming of Neighbourhood Grout, their songs are more muscular, as the rhythm section’s solid charge is augmented by shards of guitar and jabbing vocals. There is more space in their live songs than in their recorded tracks, evoking something like free jazz, as the guitar, bass, drums and voice follow their own direction, meshing in a glorious roar.
The headliners share the locals’ short, sharp shock technique: the pace of the drummer pulls it away from being a mere beat, allowing the bass to dictate the pace. At times, the band seem to be playing to different tempos: the audience chooses to rock out to the guitar, shimmy to the bass or concentrate on the fragments of words that focus the synthesis. It’s a bracing night, with three bands merging punk’s anxious energy and more joyous release of noisy energy.
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