Las Vegas Weekly

Deep Fried Orphanz are a teenage riot

Vincent Mazzoccoli, lead singer of Deep Fried Orphanz, thrashes during a recent performance.

Photo: Aaron Thompson

It’s easy to write off a band named Deep Fried Orphanz, even more so when it performs a song about pizza, titled “Cheesus Crust.” Yeah, at first glance, the teenage quartet seems about as intimidating as a group of D&D players shaking you down for Mountain Dew money. But looks can be deceiving. When they take off their glasses and launch into their heavy thrash-punk, it threatens to decimate everything within range.

These four high school music students already have some significant accolades on their résumé: an opening slot for well-known death-metal outfit Cognitive Dissonance, gigs in grown-up pubs like Meatheads and Divebar and a looming October 5 shared bill with thrash legends Warbringer at Cheyenne Saloon.

So if asking parents for rides to gigs isn’t a problem for Deep Fried Orphanz, what is? “Not being able to get into some venues where lots of bands play,” says co-vocalist Vincent Mazzoccoli. “Also, we need to go to school.”