ParkingLotGrass’ #TuskAtHand is at Hand!
Tusk At Hand is out people and boy are we convicted! Right off the bat, you believe what they’ve been saying all along in their posts “it’s not just music; it’s a change-the-world kinda album”.
You get the sense that they’re trying to tell you something and would you shut the hell up and listen.
“We are happy to write socially conscious music that people can enjoy, but also gain from in terms of what we all have to do as individuals in society to make our world better for us and those that will come after us,” says band founder and guitarist Alistair Gould.
That’s great news for us but really, Dun Muriira on lead vocals had us with the very first words out of his mouth on If I Could Believe.
Even then, Turn Around featuring ClAy, a rock singer from Nigeria is one of the most popular album tracks, as is Naweza, having been released long before the album was truly conceived.
The band’s fusion of Swahili is as fluid and natural as the use of English, throughout the entire album. Not only that but, the guitar work is also absolutely insane. Guitarists Victor, Alistair and Amos Kiptoon, have the versatility of a chameleon where shifting from genre is concerned. We say this because of the absolute shocker that Naweza’s ambient version is.
If you’re not listening, you’ll miss the drummer, but we are listening, and we happen to know that PLG’s drummer is also their producer. Nick Wathi, one of the co-founders of Tsunami and head producer at Andromeda Studios has come of age like you wouldn’t believe.
He was behind their 2012 EP Shimo Mfukoni which, when listened to tells you just how much the band has grown.
With singles like Turn Around and Rain Man, it was a little difficult to tell the direction the band wanted to take. Now that the album is out, and because the band members are known to be avid local tourists, the “Conservation” angle comes through pretty strongly. The album art and title “Tusk At Hand” – speak against the poaching of wildlife, and particularly Elephants and Rhino’s, the tusks of which are traded illegally over the world.
Their love for Kenya’s rich wildlife, fresh air and their absolute love for rock music prompted the album’s title. A short animated film (Last Days of Ivory) directed by Hollywood’s Kathryn Bigelow showing a connection between illegal Ivory Trade and Terrorism not just in Kenya, but all over the world also, had a little something to do with it.
I mean think about it; without the Majestic Elephant roaming the savannah, companies like Nakumatt and Tusker would be using ‘Dodos’ on their logos.
Elephant Champion Dr Paula Kahumbu is also one of their strongest role models where conservation of wildlife is concerned and they are eager to work with her as well as champion the fight against poachers in Kenya.
We expect ParkingLotGrass to be headlining concerts all over Africa, and a Grammy would not be so far-fetched because, their talent glares at you bright as the mid-day sun in The Sahara. Goro Fest, SXSW, WACKEN, Woodstock ― every single one of them would be lucky to have them. They boys are not strangers to success either, as they have already had their share of performances in local festivals, Oktober Fest and Rocktober Fest, The Rift Valley Festival. They have also performed at the 2013 49° MetalZone Festival in Bayreuth, Germany.
If we didn’t know any better, we’d think this was Rage Against The Machine with a mellower vocalist, but equally hard-hitting lyrics, against poachers (Wanyama wa Pori), against corruption (Kilio Cha Haki), against discrimination of any kind (Let Me Be), against pollution (Constitution (of pollution).
“We were not afraid to talk about particularly sensitive topics and societal problems all in one record,” Alistair adds.
The band is clearly made of idealists, but idealists who have the balls to do something about what’s going wrong. The entire album to us is an absolute middle-finger to anyone who thought Kenyans couldn’t rock - and in Swahili at that.
Talk of the next album is already started:
“The Band feels really good about having this out after a long wait and hope the fans will enjoy it,” says the band’s founder and guitarist Alistair Gould. “We’re already discussing the next record and hope to build up good momentum with Tusk At Hand.”
They also feel that they have grown immensely since Shimo Mfukoni, not just in skill but in learning to address social issues, both good and bad, but in translating that into music that can be digested by the masses.
We have one thing to say about PLG: Your dreams are not only valid, they’re pretty much reality.
Listen to PLG’s entire album on their website on www.parkinglotgrass.com.
If you want to know more about the band or just to chat with one of them, visit their Twitter or Facebook pages. They respond real quick and they are passionate about getting the word out there.
By UP’s resident Rocker
