What started as a bit of a joke between a couple of kids at school in the late 1990s soon took on a life of its own as the many contributors to the pop rock (or at times electronic, punk, progressive indie, various other adjectives…) band PARASITE did their time and shaped the musical monster into what it is today. After some success with other lineups yielding limited record releases, some favourable reviews in the press, some gigs including eventful trips to London involving low speed motor accidents, killer takeaways and other malarkey, the band have evolved yet again. The current lineup consists of band co-founder Adam Scanlon (vocals, bass, synth etc) and Daniel Banks (guitar, vocals, production etc) who have been working together for the past two years building a small but fiercely loyal fan base and recording a new album from which these tracks are taken. The album fuses together a vast array of influences with the now-familiar Parasite sound of relentless synth noodling, off-kilter drum loops and a guitar section imported from some long-forgotten 80s indie band, all accompanied by a lyrical and vocal style where the listener is never totally sure when Parasite are being serious. Things that have been covered in the band’s latest work, Strawberry Fuel (based on a dream of Scanlon’s, naturally), include love described in terms of the memory of banana medicine, cycling, colander solos, weighty subjects dealt with flippantly, making habits of ripping trousers, the intriguingly bizarre, “dutty” bass lines and, of course, drinking.