Albums

Album Review: Zebrahead

[Album: Phoenix]
[Label: SPV Europe / Sony BMG]

Hello music lovers! A short history lesson will proceed today’s review….

Zebrahead were formed in La Habre, California (situated in the legendary Orange County, a hotbed of US punk talent) in 1996. In the 12 years between then and now they have released 6 studio albums (including 2008’s ‘Phoenix’), 2 EPs, been included on countless compilations and toured with the likes of Less Then Jake, Reel Big Fish, Unwritten Law and Goldfinger. Impressively the only line-up change suffered by the band since its first release in 1998 involves singer/guitarist Justin Mauriello leaving in 2004 and being replaced by Matty Lewis (who formally fronted Jank 1000). Rather less impressive is that my knowledge of this band was virtually non-existent until this summer!

My first experience of Zebrahead actually coincided with my first experience of the Download Festival at Donington Park this June. I stumbled into the main arena on the first day of the festival proper (with an already nicely warmed-up John Skibeat I might add), beer in hand, to witness an impressively-sized crowd already in full-party mode camped out in front of the Tuborg Stage. The band were in fact the opening act for the whole festival and they proceeded to impress me and the gathered party heads with an energetic and fun display of showmanship, musicianship and humour. The Download organisers had clearly done their homework, with Zebraheads high-tempo mix of rap-punk-ska-rock (combined with their encouragement of crowd participation) proving to be the perfect start to the weekend’s inevitable shenanigans. My thoughts however had already wandered to how they would fair on record having no recollection of hearing them before so I was pleased when ‘Phoenix’ dropped through my shiny new letterbox a few weeks ago.

Truth be told, I have found this album fairly hard work. It has been a very challenging experience actually forming an opinion I’m happy with about this record because it’s so hit and miss. Whilst Zebrahead have lost none of the impressive musicianship on display when witnessed live, it does seem to me that the very dynamics that make this band so good on stage have conspired against them to be the very things that make this record so inconsistent. The perfect example of this concerns the dual-vocal attack of rapper Ali Tabatabaee and lead singer Matty Lewis. Under the closer scrutiny of my headphones and away from the stage this relationship can simply be described as rather uncomfortable. At times the rapping is just an annoying distraction to an otherwise good song (and on others where subtle is almost enjoyable) but on other tracks, where it’s the prominent vocal in the mix, it can get so juvenile lyrically that it’s almost embarrassing. By comparison Linkin Park are made to sound almost profound and this little gem from ‘Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right, But Three Rights Make A Left’ highlight’s my point perfectly:

“Like a fool, back in school, run around on the weekend / Took a bit of time but now I see it like a bee can [uh oh oh oh] / When I’m not around you’re with another dude streeking / Like bount chica bount-bount chica bount-bount / I spy a girl gone wild weekend / I spy that you’re hittin’ up my best friend / I spy you’re going down in the deep end / 6-6-6, my antichrist girlfriend.”

I mean come on, are they like 13 year old school kids? I guess the song title should have given me a clue what to expect! It is to their detriment overall because although the punk-rap-rock-hip-hop-ska sound that they are trying to create sounds very interesting on paper, it does in reality prevent them from having any real identity when put down on record. This is a huge shame because on other tracks they have nailed the pop-rock theme to perfection and they write choruses that would give the kings of this genre (Sum 41, Allister, Bowling For Soup, etc) sleepless nights!

Tunes like ‘The Juggernauts’, ‘Ignite’, ‘Brixton’ and ‘HMP’ showcase Zebrahead’s talent for memorable and catchy songs but again the rapping vocals really ruin the impact. There are other tracks on this record that really sound “clunky” in structure with verses and choruses seemingly “cut and pasted” together and it leads to an overall feeling of forced diversity. Also, with the album weighing in at 16 tracks it is in my eyes at least 4 tracks too many. With a little more quality control being shown this record would have a much better chance of showcasing what they actually do well, but the inclusion of songs like ‘All For None And None For All’ just further my assumption that Zebrahead are unsure themselves of what it is they are good at!

In defence of the band, ‘Phoenix’ is by no means a bad record. As previously mentioned they have some killer tunes on this record and it is essentially a fun album that is letdown by some real fillers. The band are clearly talented musicians and having seen them live and been really impressed it’s obvious that they are a band who have a style that really needs be seen on stage to be appreciated. My overall feeling however is if they want to really go for the jugular, and make a real impression on the international music scene, then they will need to focus their sound, grow up a little bit and not be afraid to compete with the more established names. If they can couple that with the fantastic energy and fun of their live show onto a recording then “Look out world!” Zebrahead have a great album in them of that I am sure but ‘Phoenix’ is not it. Some killer, some filler, all Zebra.

For Fans Of: Linkin Park, Allister, Bowling For Soup

Band Link:
Zebrahead

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