Nylon Ströke ‘Vigilante’ Single Launch
There was a time, many years ago, when the humble triple bill was the lifeblood of the Perth heavy scene. Three local bands, three slightly different takes on Rock and Roll, a few beers and the possibility that you might walk away having discovered something you hadn’t expected. Tonight at Amplifier Bar we got three little gems and some great entertainment at that.
In many ways, it was a wonderful little microcosm of the Perth scene. We had the young up-and-comers with everything still ahead of them, a classic Metal band steadily finding its feet and its audience, and a headline act that understands that sometimes Rock and Roll is simply supposed to be fun. No pretence, no overthinking it, just three bands doing their thing on a Friday night in Perth.
Opening proceedings were COUPLA STUDZ, and visually they looked like they’d been beamed straight out of mid-eighties L.A. Sleaze Metal — part Mötley Crüe, part W.A.S.P., with a healthy dose of Bon Scott-style streetwise Australian Rock and Roll thrown into the mix.
Musically, though, they’re far harder to pin down. Imagine the wildest dreams of a kid who has somehow discovered every kind of Rock and Roll on the same afternoon — from Mötley Crüe to the Ramones and all points in between — and immediately decided to start a band. That’s pretty much the glorious chaos you get with Coupla Studz.
And I mean that as a compliment.
They’re rough and ready around the edges, of course, but at this stage they probably should be. There’s youthful enthusiasm everywhere, plenty of humour in the songwriting and absolutely no shortage of personality. What matters most is that underneath all of that you can hear something beginning to take shape.
For all the laughs and larger-than-life Rock and Roll attitude, it’s when they close with a song like ‘Dreams’ that you really begin to see the possibilities. Give these guys a few more miles on the clock, a few more stages and a few more songs and there could be something very interesting here indeed. Right now they’re young, loud and having a ball — and sometimes that’s exactly where great Rock and Roll starts.
The wildcard on tonight’s bill was the classic Metal of PARABELUM.
This was only my second time seeing Parabellum, but it was enough to confirm the impression from the first: these guys have the songs to take them places.
‘Judgement Day’ remains the standout for me, and perhaps the most encouraging thing tonight was hearing a set without the covers. There’s nowhere to hide when you’re relying entirely on your own material, and Parabellum’s songs are more than strong enough to see them through.
Onstage the chemistry is coming too, though playing without a bassist tonight did leave guitarist Krissy Sanfead and vocalist Mick Vinnie occasionally appearing to inhabit opposite sides of Amplifier’s modest stage. That’s something that will naturally tighten with more shows together, because the musical foundations are already firmly in place.
Behind them, Jake Isard is always entertaining to watch and anchored everything beautifully from the drums. There’s an assuredness to the way Parabellum approach this music that tells you they’re not trying to reinvent Heavy Metal — they’re simply playing the kind they love and doing it very well.
And sometimes you don’t need reinvention.
Parabellum hit the East Coast later this week, making their debuts in Adelaide and Melbourne, and if your idea of Metal heaven lies somewhere in those glorious early-eighties years when riffs were huge, singers actually sang and Heavy Metal hadn’t yet fractured into a hundred different subgenres, they’re pretty much unmissable.
Which brings us to the reason everyone was gathered at Amplifier in the first place — NYLON STRÖKE and the launch of new single ‘Vigilante’.
What can we say about Nylon Ströke that hasn’t already become obvious to anyone who has encountered them? At their heart they’re three mates playing Rock and Roll, but they’re also great entertainers. There’s a wonderfully natural chemistry between Adam Healy, Gregor MacDonald and Sean Allsopp that can’t really be manufactured. You either have that connection or you don’t.
Nylon Ströke have it.
There’s also something refreshingly old school about the whole proposition. The humour, the jokes, the lack of unnecessary seriousness and that feeling that the people making the music are enjoying themselves every bit as much as the people listening to it. Rock and Roll used to understand that entertainment was part of the deal, and Nylon Ströke certainly haven’t forgotten.
Then there’s that sound.
For a three-piece, Nylon Ströke have always managed to sound considerably bigger than the numbers suggest. Healy’s bass and vocals, MacDonald’s guitar and Allsopp’s drums somehow fill considerably more space than three musicians have any right to. It’s polished without ever becoming clinical and tight without losing that natural looseness that Rock and Roll needs to breathe.
And ‘Vigilante’ feels like another important marker in their story — another reason to get people together, turn the volume up and celebrate a local band doing things their own way. Now they have the songs for a no filer setlist and the stagecraft to hold the attention of a room the question is where to next?
Maybe that’s what I enjoyed most about this particular bill.
These weren’t three interchangeable bands chasing the same audience with slightly different logos. Coupla Studz brought the youthful chaos, humour and sheer possibility of a band still discovering exactly what it wants to become. Parabellum brought the songs, riffs and timeless appeal of classic Heavy Metal. Nylon Ströke brought the chemistry, experience and understanding that putting on a show matters just as much as playing the notes.
Three different stages of the journey. Three different versions of Rock and Roll.
And one Friday night at Amplifier that reminded me why those old triple bills used to matter so much to Perth.
I’m happy to say they still do.
