The Coconut Teaszer, being one of Hollywood’s oldest and most reliable venues for a guaranteed good time, was lit up and filled with a substantial crowd for the bands that were gracing the stage on Friday night. The line up was comprised of a long list of bands that played from several areas of the musical spectrum, but there were stand out performances from Agrokulcher and Fractional Importance on this particular night.
Agrokulcher, (who I was a virgin to hearing before this), were incredible. The singer, Matt (who I met and discussed “Smokey the Leopard” with last night) possesses a Lynn Strait (Snot) sense of aggression, power, and vocal style with a dash of Johnny Rotten thrown in to remind you that you were indeed watching an Agrokulcher set. The band has a huge and heavy sound that was incomparable to any other that I’ve witnessed in quite some time. I am a new disciple. (Thank you, Brian, for showing me the way.)
Fractional Importance, with their subtlety and frailness at one moment, and their signature “melodicore” hitting you over the head in the next, were on point last night. With the welcome addition of Nate Perry on bass, there is a redefined sense of energy and creativity within the band; which is exactly what Douglas Gledhill (vocals/guitar) and Kevin Fessler (drums) were looking for. Every song that Fractional writes comes from the soul. You can be sure that you’re experiencing dedication and purity when you come to a Fractional show.
Opening the set with Fractional staples like “Your Alibis” and “Pathetic” left no room for straying eyes (or ears) from the audience members. The familiar following that attended rocked right along with appreciation and knowledge of the bittersweet lyrics. Fractional gave the gift of music to us in the form of three new songs entitled, “Numb”, “Eraser” and “The Game”; all of which had the same heavy, melodic mark of other Fractional “classics”.
Nate’s formal training was as apparent as were his creativity and class onstage. He is indeed a perfect fit. Kevin seems to play better with each performance. I must be totally biased when it comes to Kevin because it has become impossible for me to point out a single mistake in his presentation. And when it comes to Douglas, well, I don’t even need to go there. I will say this however; if there were a wicked angel put on Earth to entertain us with the thoughts in his head put to music, his name would be Douglas Gledhill.
Fractional Importance kicked ass once again. While I am entirely confident that these three extremely talented and down-to-Earth guys would NEVER forget about the “little people”; you should definitely see them live while they’re still “nobodies”.
Lesa Pence
