Kato destroys the rock star myth: the bullshit notion that you have to give up living a real life to make big bombastic rock and roll. Three guys making music they care about while negotiating careers, home ownership, and partners is a lot harder than surrendering to the narcissistic, “lonely poet” archetype.
To say that Kato Destroy is just another slice of gritty Peg city rock does the band a disservice. It ignores the deft experimentation with jazz and metal; it misses out on their penchant for Jagermeister-fueled humor; and—most importantly—it doesn’t speak to the fact that Kato Destroy presents itself in a way that is almost completely free of persona and posturing.
Formed in the summer of 2007, Kato Destroy came to life when Darcy Gudmundson (vocals/guitars) asked his estranged childhood friends Jimmy Marnoch (bass) and Jimmy Shand (drums) to join him in a rock odyssey that would see them playing almost every room this town has to offer.
The combination of hard gigging and long-time friends is what keeps one’s ego in check. It’s impossible to be someone you’re not when surrounded by people who have known you since grade school. Let’s face it: in a world of social media catfish and pitchfork hype bands, honesty is the hottest commodity around.
Listening to their brand spanking new digital EP, Super Zang, I can’t help but think of that scene in Almost Famous when Lester Bangs is at the radio station talking about the difference between the Doors and the Guess Who.
“Jim Morrison? He’s a drunken buffoon posing as a poet [ . . . ] Give me the Guess Who. They’ve got the courage to be drunken buffoons, which makes them poetic.”
Now I don’t think Kato Destroy are buffoons—poetic or otherwise—but they do have the courage to be themselves, and I can’t think of anything more poetic than that.
Check out the band at katodestroy.bandcamp.com and catch them live at the Rose n’ Bee on Nov. 2, when they rock the house with Beefdonut and the Bad Nerves.
