The Daily Beast brings word of a Baltimore-based band, Hatebeak, that broke new ground in music as the first known band to have an African Grey parrot for a lead singer. Parrots have long been relegated to menial communication: echoing sentiments about popcorn and crackers or, at best, doing adorable covers of other people’s terrible music. But now it is the parrot’s time to shine, as Hatebeak’s work has seen a recent resurgence online. A 25-year-old bird-punk named Waldo has given voice to the deep blackness inside of parrot souls with such songs as “Beak of Putrefaction” and “The Thing That Should Not Beak”
Waldo’s pipes are well-suited to black metal—parrots are good at shrieking, if you didn’t know. The lyrics aren’t really discernible, but when are they ever, really? Unfortunately, Hatebeak’s record label is on hiatus, so no new recordings are coming, and the band refuses to play live, as the noise would be traumatic for Waldo. No news yet on whether Waldo will continue trying to live his dream or if he took that gig at the cool coffee shop downtown.