Grind Thrashers from the prison continent (Australia), King Parrot, have dropped their newest problem child on an unsuspecting world, the deliciously heavy Dead Set! Here’s a Review!
King Parrot Current* Lineup:
Matthew “Youngy” Young- vocals (2010-present)
Ari “Mr. White” White- guitar (2010-present)
Andrew “Squiz” Livingstone-Squires- guitar (2012-present)
Matthew “Slatts” Slattery- bass/merch booth (2010-present)
Todd “Toddy” Hansen- drums (2014-present)
*current lineup is also the tour lineup for the It Takes Guts tour with Child Bite and Superjoint*
Dead Set Track List:
Anthem of the Advanced Sinner
Need No Saviour
Hell Comes Your Way
Like A Rat
Tomorrow Turns To Blood
Home Is Where The Gutter Is
Sick In The Head
Punisher
Reject
Dead Set
Dead Set isn’t a slow burn album, there are no dead spots, ballads, or feel good songs. IT’s full of catchy, nasty, speed soaked riffs machine-gunned out of the speakers at the listener, ripping ear drums to shreds and whipping necks like it was paid to break them. King Parrot are adept at taking tried and true genres, thrash and grind, and making them feel good again. Their tone is an overdrive buffet, coated in a coagulate gravy of gain that’s been dropped on the floor and you can plainly see hair and dirt in it. It’s not pretty, but it’s a good fuck. The dual guitars of Mr. White and Squiz absolutely have their craft down, and give you some extremely satisfying shredding, like on Like A Rat. THey have a punkish crunch, coupled with a very catchy hook to it; can’t help but find it digging in like a tick. King Parrot also excel at getting a catchy vocal hook stuck inside your brain, see Like A Rat and Need No Saviour. You will be singing the titles, or else you’re too broken to save.
Vocally, Matthew Young destroys. Live, recorded, probably forcing out a particularly troublesome poop, his vocals can’t possibly more on for the ferocity of his backing band. Live, you can see the strain in every popping vein on his shaved down head, and hear the cords in his throat simply straining with every syllable. He gives it all, and it’s just as brutal as the clean recordings on Dead Set and the earlier Bite Your Head Off (check out Bozo, it’s a fucking RIPPER!). THey strained scream he puts out just harries at you, jabbing and cutting as you get ground up in the band’s machinations. Meat grinders are more like a lullaby, comparatively. Even on a slower tempo’d song, Home Is Where The Gutter Is, that screech just scrapes on the soul. It’s perfect, and much needed after I have heard every vocalist try and differentiate a damn mouth full of gravel, which they also have, but as backing vocals to contrast with Youngy.
And in case you were wondering, he has a pretty nice ass for a B- minus cosplay of Phil Anselmo. (Ask me how I know.)
This album is ridiculously fast and thrashy, as befitting their historical output. King Parrot brings a very fresh energy to the table no matter what album it is, and Dead Set is just putting them closer to that perfect album. It’s out now, and probably lurking in your bushes outside the bathroom, find it on Amazon Music, iTunes, Bandcamp, and random stuff at the Housecore Store.
5 out of 5 Floating Rats!
(Suck it Slatts! I don’t write bad reviews BOI!)
