Posted in Whathaveyou on February 8th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Already a return trip to Europe for El Perro. The funk infused heavy rock troupe led by Parker Griggs of Radio Moscow are headed abroad for the second time, having gone last summer on the heels of their then-newly-released debut album, Hair Of… (review here). This is Spring into Summer, a pretty solid run. They got Heavy Psych Sounds Fest and Freak Valley, and it’s worth noting that this tour comes after they hit the East Coast (info here), so they’re about to make it a busy first half of the year, which it would seem to be how they like it. Par for the course, and so on.
Something tells me this band is an absolute blast on stage. I’ve yet to have the pleasure, but I’ll catch them in Freak Valley, and even just listening to the record again to write this, that’s a fun one. Anyway, here are the dates:
*** EL PERRO – European Tour***
– featuring PARGER GRIGGS of RADIO MOSCOW –
EL PERRO will smash Europe in May and June.
You just can’t miss them !!!
*** EL PERRO – EUROPEAN TOUR 2023 ***
TH 25/05/2023 IT TREVISO – ALTROQUANDO FR 26/05/2023 CH HPS FEST SA 27/05/2023 CH HPS FEST SU 28/05/2023 OPEN SLOT MO 29/05/2023 HR ZAGREB – ZAGREB TU 30/05/2023 RS NIS – AKC FUZZ WE 31/05/2023 RS BELGRADE – KC GRAD TH 01/06/2023 HR VIROVITICA – HORN PUB FR 02/06/2023 AT EBENSEE – KINO SA 03/06/2023 SI ŠKOFJA LOKA – PRI RDEČI OSTRIGI SU 04/06/2023 OPEN SLOT MO 05/06/2023 CZ PRAGUE – CROSS CLUB TU 06/06/2023 CZ LOUNY – HOTEL CARAMELL WE 07/06/2023 CZ BILINA – KAFÁČ TH 08/06/2023 DE SIEGEN – FREAK VALLEY FR 09/06/2023 FR PARIS – SUPERSONIC SA 10/06/2023 FR BELLOCQ – CHÂTEAU DE BELLOCQ SU 11/06/2023 ES VALLADOLID – SALA PORTA CAELI MO 12/06/2023 OPEN SLOT TU 13/06/2023 OPEN SLOT WE 14/06/2023 ES OPEN SLOT TH 15/06/2023 ES ZARAGOZA – ROCK & BLUES CAFE FR 16/06/2023 FR OPEN SLOT SA 17/06/2023 FR OPEN SLOT SU 18/06/2023 FR CHAMBERY – BRIN DE ZINC TU 20/06/2023 FR NANTES – CRUMBLE FIGHT WE 21/06/2023 FR OPEN SLOT TH 22/06/2023 OPEN SLOT FR 23/06/2023 DE SAARBRUCKEN – HORST SA 24/06/2023 FR MANIGOD – NAMASS PAMOUSS FESTIVAL SU 25/06/2023 IT PISA – PONTILE 102 TH 29/06/2023 IT CAGLIARI – POETTO FR 30/06/2023 IT OPEN SLOT
EL PERRO is a brand-new band led by guitarist/vocalist/songwriter/producer Parker Griggs (Radio Moscow). The five piece psychedelic/funk/rock project features the talents of Jaron Yancey –second guitar, Shawn Davis –bass guitar, Lonnie Blanton –drums (ex Radio Moscow), and Tawny Harrington –percussion.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 5th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
El Perro will tour the East Coast for the first time in February and March supporting their debut album, Hair Of… (review here), released last year. The band led by Radio Moscow‘s Parker Griggs spent a decent amount of 2022 on the road, covering the West Coast before hitting Europe over the summer for SonicBlast, Down the Hill and others fests and shows, then returning to do a full run through the Midwest. As regards the US, that leaves pretty much the East Coast as the final territory to be hit, so the question becomes where do they go next? Australia/New Zealand? Back to Europe? Canada? Mexico? They have options, sure, but the question too is how long they actually want to spend on the road before starting/finishing their next record.
We’ll see for sure this year how that’s going to play out, and for now here are the (mostly) East Coast dates that start in Iowa on Feb. 17, as posted by the band. And I mean that “as posted.” I was going to go through and change all the Instagram tags to the proper venue names, but first of all, if you’re reading these words you know how to read someone’s social tag, and second, even if you don’t know what that is, you’re intelligent enough to figure it out and look at them on the poster that’s right there and/or find where a show is going to be, say, if you’re thinking about buying a ticket. So I’ll save myself a couple minutes there that I’ve already wasted trying to deal with the awkward phrasing of that last sentence. Alas.
Yes? What’s that you say? Oh the tour dates. Yes:
EL PERRO – East Coast Tour
Feb/March East Coast tour dates now announced! This will be our first time out in these parts! Tickets for sale now (#129304#)(#127998#)
2/17 @bootleghillhoneymeads Davenport, IA 2/18 @reggieslive Chicago, IL 2/19 @westsidebowl Youngstown, OH 2/20 @kungfunecktie_bar Philadelphia, PA 2/21 @saintvitusbar NYC, NY 2/22 @statehousenhv New Haven, CT 2/23 @alchemy_providence Providence, NH 2/24 @cafe611 Frederick, MD 2/25 @banditoslounge.rva Richmond, VA 2/26 The Odd, Asheville, NC 2/28 TBA Birmingham, AL 3/1 @901growlers Memphis, TN 3/2 @santosbarnola New Orleans, LA 3/3 @freetown_boomboomroom Lafayette, LA 3/4 @divisionbrewing Arlington, TX 3/7 @okcbluenote OKC, OK 3/8 @minibarkc Kansas City, KC 3/9 @sinkholestl St. Louis, MO 3/10 @iowacitygabes Iowa City, IA 3/11 @xbklive Des Moines, IA
A few more TBA soon. Huge thanks to our dude @alvaro_8034 for making the poster!
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 13th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Fresh off a festival-inclusive European run to support their 2022 debut album, Hair Of… (review here), El Perro will set out in two days’ time on a tour through frontman Parker Griggs‘ old stomping ground in the Midwest. Shows begin Wednesday in Davenport, Iowa, and end in Burlington, Iowa, and seem to be centered around the occasion of the five-piece making a stop in New Mexico — not really the Midwest, but the band don’t seem to mind traveling — for the Monolith on the Mesa fest, where they play alongside The Obsessed, Stöner, Mars Red Sky and more acts I won’t list because it pisses me off I won’t be there to see it. Info on that is here: https://monolithonthemesa.com/
You might note a couple lineup changes in the El Perro camp. I guess when you run headfirst into putting out a record, touring it as soon as and as much as possible, and keep going with that work ethic, you’re going to burn through some people. And Griggs‘ former (?) outfit Radio Moscow had its share of personnel changeover too. So be it. I look forward to their next album, hearing what they’ve learned from all this time on the road and how that manifests in their second batch of material. Probably a bit to go before they get there. Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to see them beforehand.
Dates on the poster, announcement/info after:
Well Europe that was QUITE DELIGHT. What an amazing month and so nice having the dog mark its territory over there. Huge thanks to all involved and to all the great folks we met. Now we are back in the USA. TOUR STARTS NEXT WEEK!!!
Huge shout to our buddy @andyclarridge for another killer tour poster ❤️(#129304#)(#127998#)❤️(#129304#)(#127998#)
See ya soon America!
EL PERRO is a brand new band led by guitarist/vocalist/songwriter/producer Parker Griggs of RADIO MOSCOW. The sound contains elements that fans of Radio Moscow will recognize, but this is rock music with a new, fresh spin and feel. The band’s debut album, “Hair Of El Perro”, takes heavy psychedelic rock as a starting point but jams into more syncopated territory, spicing its sound with Latin rhythms and hints of Funkadelic-style grooves. You could say that EL PERRO plays psychedelic funk rock, and you wouldn’t be wrong.
El Perro is: Parker Griggs – Guitar/vocals Jaron Yancey – Guitar Shawn Davis – Bass Lonnie Blanton – Drums Tawny Harrington – Percussion
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Cali-based dirt boogie rockers El Perro have been out and about since even before the arrival of their 2022 debut album, Hair Of… (review here), and they’re set to take the show abroad for the first time starting next week, hitting SonicBlast in Portugal to begin a stretch of European tour dates that will carry them through the rest of August and into September as they support the record, win friends, influence people, and all that other self-actualized heavy rock and roll whatnot.
The inevitable sentence this post must contain is about Parker Griggs coming out of Radio Moscow — El Perro drummer Lonnie Blanton also played in that band for a time — but El Perro feels like more than just a step aside from a dude’s main project, and Hair Of… is a rocker’s rocker, so while I’ve seen Griggs play guitar on any number of occasions, I’d still be glad to show up given the opportunity, and if you’re somewhere they’re going to be, whether it’s SonicBlast, Down the Hill in Belgium or any of these other fests, or if you want to be a hero and book one of the open dates (someone call ElbSludge for a Dresden gig!), I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s worth your time to be there.
I’ve said my piece. Here’s the tour dates pulled from social media:
EL PERRO – Summer European Tour
AUGUST 2022 EUROPE SUMMER TOUR DATES!!! See ya across thee pond VERY soon!
Aug 10 Ancora, PT @ Sonic Blast (pre-party) Aug 12 Ancora, PT @ Sonic Blast Fest Aug 16 Coana, ES @ The Enjoy House Aug 20 Hugelshofen, CH @ Rock The Frog Fest Aug 21 Bodenmais, DE @ Rote Res Aug 22 OPEN SLOT Aug 23 Nijmegen, NL @ Onderbroek Aug 24 OPEN SLOT Aug 25 Paris, FR @ L’International Aug 26 Auvergne, FR @ Volcano Sessions Fest Aug 27 Aarschot, BE @ Down The Hill Fest Aug 28 Bree, BE @ Ragnarock Aug 29 OPEN SLOT Aug 30 Bilina, CZ @ Kafac Aug 31 Cologne, DE @ Sonic Ballroom Sep 1 OPEN SLOT Sep 2 OPEN SLOT Sep 3 Bad Sulza, DE @ Saalepartie Fest
Thanks to our buddy Andy Clarridge for the tour poster!
The roots of San Diego-based hard funk-informed classic heavy and psychedelic rockers El Perro go back at least to Fall 2019. At that point, Parker Griggs — who discussed starting the band here — had a handful of demos and was looking to play out and experiment beyond the sonic reaches of his main outfit, the power trio Radio Moscow. I won’t speculate as to the ultimate status of that blues-ripper trio (sleeping, maybe?), who released their last album in Sept. 2017 through Century Media and obviously were unable to tour the last couple years as they otherwise might have, but Hair Of… is the debut from El Perro that brings Griggs back to Radio Moscow‘s former label, Alive Records, and finds him fronting the four-piece alongside rhythm guitarist Holland Redd, bassist Shawn Davis and drummer Lonnie Blanton (the latter also a Radio Moscow alum), as well as producing with engineering and mixing by Mike Butler at Singing Serpent in San Diego.
Griggs (who also handles percussion throughout) wrote the music and lyrics and arranged the nine-included tracks — eight on the vinyl, as “O’ Grace” is a CD bonus — as the liner insert on the disc states in no uncertain terms, and from opener “The Mould” onward, Hair Of… bears many of the hallmarks of his craft, be it his bluesy vocal delivery or head-spinning guitar shred. The context in which those happen is somewhat changed, and though one is maybe most reminded of the 2007 self-titled Radio Moscow debut in terms of the overall sound in these tracks, El Perro bring a distinct enough vibe — not to mention different players and a rhythm guitar behind the spinning-in-a-circle-from-channel-to-channel solos of “The Mould,” “Take Me Away,” “Breaking Free,” and so on — to warrant being a new band.
Funk is the key, if El Perro is to be the vehicle through which Griggs explores the ’70s-era work of acts like Funkadelic circa Let’s Take it to the Stage or Cymande or Demon Fuzz, among a slew of others in and out of the psych-soul Norman Whitfield oeuvre, then he’s done well in bringing those sounds into the context of his songwriting. Most of the tracks under four minutes long save for the second, “No Harm” (5:49) and the LP-closing jam-out “Black Days” (12:01) — and yes, panned solos abound in both — and Hair Of… on the whole is a flood of energy in its delivery, with side B pieces like “Crazy Legs” and the subsequent, aptly-named-what-with-all-that-sitar “Sitar Song” seeming to push even the freneticism of the earlier, tambourine-inclusive “K. Mt” to another level of thrust.
Much of the album seems to deal with a kind of restlessness, between “The Mould” (about breaking it), “Take Me Away,” “Breaking Free,” “Crazy Legs” and maybe even “Black Days,” but the overall vibe of El Perro‘s first offering isn’t so much dark as blinding. That’s not to say there aren’t dynamics at work, as “Take Me Away” begins with a wispy, Eddie–Hazel-warming-up jam as it comes together around mid-tempo progression that’s a highlight both in swing, its rare layered vocals, and the mellower shove, not so much daring you to try to keep pace with it as Hair Of… might elsewhere as slowing down just a smidge to let you catch up.
Likewise, as the wah at the outset of “Breaking Free” seems to pull direct from the hard funk playbook (not a complaint), it sets up a groove of percussion-laced psychedelic funk that feels like it’s just waiting for the Echoplex to get back from the repair shop. For those familiar with Griggs‘ work at the head of Radio Moscow, the general vibe of “No Harm” should be recognizable, but it’s impossible to ignore the branching out from that happening as well, even in the guitar, which in the second half of the song takes on a kind of string-effect, bouncing from note to note as a violin might, hand-percussion layered behind it to keep the always-crucial sense of movement going behind the particularly-exploratory-feeling stretch-out. They bring it back around to the full-band jam, solos tripping from one channel to the other before consuming both, and find their way back to the central riff, leaving that mellower start to “Take Me Away” to handle the recovery.
If there was indeed a mould that it was the band’s intention to defy, their blend of funk and heavy rock will no doubt earn them some followers, and it’s easy to think both because of Griggs‘ years of notoriety and classic-heavy guitar heroism in Radio Moscow and because of the combination of breadth and shake-your-ass force that carries into “Crazy Legs” and the aforementioned CD-bonus “O’ Grace,” which is also shorter, thereby making a suitable epilogue to “Black Days,” that El Perro might find their way into an influential position, but at its core, it’s still very much a guitar-based release, however much percussion surrounds.
Boxes are ticked in terms of arrangement. The keys that (unless I’m hearing things) show up on “Crazy Legs” and seem to run alongside the guitar, for example, or the sitar in “Sitar Song” — which is a highlight both for its two minutes of dizzying fretwork and the subsequent 40-seconds-or-so of drift leading into “Black Days,” which, if you’ve been waiting the whole time to find out when El Perro were going to loosen up and really space out, it’s in the 12-minute LP capper, which blasts through the atmosphere with its initial verses before at 4:28 shifting into a percussion-led (for now), rainstick-yes jam that’s ultimately a drum highlight before twisting back into the psychedelic triumph that seems to stand not only for itself but for Hair Of… as a whole. Each song has something to stand it out from the others, which along with the casual inclusion of “O’ Grace” speaks to there being more material than was skillfully carved to present this full-length.
Thinking of Hair Of… as a debut, there are myriad ways the band might grow as they move forward, taking the arrangements here of hand drums, tambourine, various clacking items and so on and pushing them further, or adventuring into other instrumentation, but much of the identity in these songs comes from the guitar work, and considering who’s behind that, there’s no fodder for complaint. Whatever their future might bring, Hair Of… is a burner that stands out for engaging with funk as it does and winding up neither in a mire of cultural appropriation nor a retread of past ideas. It sounds fresh, and so it is. And one imagines that, taken to the stage, these songs are all the more powerful, swinging and swaggering.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 12th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Why yes, I am ready for the coziest heavy psych outdoor festival in Belgium. Or anywhere, really. But sure, Belgium specifically works, although I have to admit I’m not the most comfortable in the world when it comes to interpersonal contact, so despite the nerve currently pinched in my shoulder and the rampaging plantar fasciitis in my right foot, I’ll probably take a pass on that whole “cosmic masseur” thing. Unless of course that means there’s someone at Down the Hill 2022 performing mystical rites to sooth the very universe itself. In which case, by all means, cosmic massage on. Or it’s a DJ. Which it is.
There’s plenty to dig aside from that, though, between an on-site record store, the requisite merch shopping — I don’t currently own an Elephant Tree shirt, which feels like an error on my part — food trucks if you like eating, a fire in the evening if you like keeping warm, and so on. And that’s before you get to the bands, the list of which is topped by the aforementioned Elephant Tree, though I’d also like to point out Tia Carrera, who are rarely seen outside their native Texas, will play. Bad. Ass. Note Karkara and Djiin making the trip from France, El Perro on tour from the States, Sleepwulf and Second Oracle coming down from Sweden, and a host of Belgian natives, including Wolvennest right out front headlining. A righteous assembly.
Two-dayer tickets are on sale, as the poster and PR wire info below informs:
DOWN THE HILL 2022 – AUGUST 26 & 27
Ready for the most cozy heavy psychedelic outdoor rock festival in Belgium?
With… ELEPHANT TREE (Uk) WOLVENNEST (Be) EL PERRO (Usa) TIA CARRERA (Usa) SLEEPWULF (Swe) KARKARA (Fr) DJIIN (Fr) SECOND ORACLE (Swe) BISMUT (Nl) WHEEL OF SMOKE (Be) ATOMIC VULTURE (Be) BELOMORKANAL (Be)
+ DJ’s between the bands. + Afterparty(‘s)
COZY (BIG) FIRE PLACE in the evening. RECORD STORE during the day FOOD TRUCKS all day long! BAND MERCH FESTIVAL MERCH also online! www.downthehill.be/shop
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 22nd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Back for its second year and with a fourth day in tow, Ripplefest Texas 2022 confirms its full lineup, a total beast of legends and newcomers. Really, I don’t even know what to say here except that if you’re lucky enough to go, it’s probably the kind of thing you’re going to remember for a long gosh-darn time, and it’s the kind of lineup that serves as lording-over fodder on the part of those who were there to those who weren’t. Well, at least it would if the heavy underground weren’t too cool to each other for that kind of gatekeeping nonsense. In any case, this looks like a massive undertaking to put on, and the roster of assembled acts gets a hearty ‘fucking a’ from my corner of the universe.
Tickets for all four days will run you $150, but I feel like the festival earns that on both quality and quantity of product.
Here’s the announcement, info and links:
RIPPLE FEST TEXAS – The Far Out Lounge – July 21-24
4-day passes available now!
RippleFest Texas 2022 is back and the lineup is as big and hot as Texas itself! 4 days of blistering hot music at Austin’s premier music venue The Far Out Lounge. There will be everything from crushing heavy riffs, to acoustic and banjo picking, to improvisation jam sessions and puppet shows! So many legends and great music that this will be a 4 day weekend you will not want to miss!
FULL LINEUP: Eagles of Death Metal, The Sword, Crowbar, Mothership, Big Business, The Obsessed, Stöner, Spirit Adrift, The Heavy Eyes, Sasquatch, REZN, Fatso Jetson, Heavy Temple, J.D. Pinkus, Lord Buffalo, Lo-Pan, Wino, El Perro, Void Vator, Hippie Death Cult, Howling Giant, Doctor Smoke, Nick Oliveri, High Desert Queen, Destroyer of Light, Ape Machine, High Priestess, Dryheat, Rubber Snake Charmers, Sun Crow, Holy Death Trio, Bone Church, Horseburner, Spirit Mother, Thunder Horse, Mother Iron Horse, The Age of Truth, Salem’s Bend, Las Cruces, All Souls, Kind, Fostermother, The Absurd, Godeye, Ole English, Mr. Plow, Snake Mountain Revival, Blue Heron, Grail, Formula 400, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Eagle Claw, Bridge Farmers.
The Far Out Lounge is located at 8504 South Congress. Winner of Best New Venue at the Austin Music Awards 2020.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 24th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
At this point it’s been a minute since El Perro‘s debut album, Hair of El Perro, was announced back in August. It’s also going to be a minute until that same record finally sees release in April 2022. Whether you chalk that up to holding it back until the band can tour in a bigger way — they did a run in August as well, so maybe not that — or the simple harsh reality of vinyl pressing delays, it’s a substantial stretch of time to sit on a release in any case. I do not doubt that by the time Parker Griggs and company hit the road in February, they’ll be itching to get out. Likewise the folks who show up at the gigs, if winter viral surge predictions are to be considered.
Nonetheless, my position on El Perro remains as it has been since the band was announced in 2019. I’m looking forward to hearing the record whenever it shows up. Nice when things can be simple like that.
Dates from the PR wire:
EL PERRO announce USA tour February 2022!
EL PERRO is a brand new band led by PARKER GRIGGS of RADIO MOSCOW
EL PERRO – FEBRUARY USA TOUR DATES 2/3/22 Count’s Vamp’d Rock Bar & Grill/Las Vegas 2/04/22 Yucca Tap Room/Tempe 2/05/22 Permanent Records Roadhouse/Los Angeles 2/06/22 Transplants Brewing Company & Live/Palmdale 2/16/22 Bottom of the Hill/San Francisco 2/17/22 The High Water Mark/Portland 2/18/22 Funhouse/Seattle 2/19/22 The Shredder/Boise 2/20/22 Garage on Beck/Salt Lake City
EL PERRO is a brand new band led by guitarist/vocalist/songwriter/producer Parker Griggs of RADIO MOSCOW. The sound contains elements that fans of Radio Moscow will recognize, but this is rock music with a new, fresh spin and feel. The band’s debut album, “Hair Of El Perro”, takes heavy psychedelic rock as a starting point but jams into more syncopated territory, spicing its sound with Latin rhythms and hints of Funkadelic-style grooves. You could say that EL PERRO plays psychedelic funk rock, and you wouldn’t be wrong.
Beside Parker Griggs, EL PERRO also includes former Radio Moscow drummer Lonnie Blanton, bassist Shawn Davis, and guitarist Holland Redd.
