Archive for the ‘Holy City Zoo’ Category
Disc Deconstruction: Holy City Zoo – Nobody Sells For Less
Holy guitar rock, Batman! The Zoo (Holy City Zoo, that is) is back and bringing it full frontal with their new EP Nobody Sells for Less. The only Crazy Eddie these cats evoke is Iron Maiden’s mascot, though. What I mean is that this album is not a Ponzi scheme or some kind of tax fraud to off shore accounts, this is red blooded american hardcore. Finally something I can clench my fist, bare my teeth and keep my chin upto. Lets dissect this bugger.
War World 5? Not sure, but I’ll say this: The build into the song is great! A little guitar then forceful drums coinciding vocals, then like a stealth bomber she takes off! The chorus rockets off with lead guitar that sounds like its out of an Ikari Warriors reboot for a game system that’s not out yet. The bridge is a battlefield of guitar. A lil calm vocal action then climax and it dies out…
Afterburner
… ONLY To blast back off with Afterburner’s hot riff! She flows into the chorus with dueling vocals… or are they Mexican stand-off vocals? (If this album was made in Mexico they’d just be stand-off vocals). Back to the riff, then we calm down for a build. And lead guitar sounds like a dive-bomb at the peak! Whoa! Ending with a top off. I imagine some kind of Blue Angels figure four deal fading into the sunset, Top Gun Style.
Paper Beats Rock
Spillpeak Media’s Al Vasquez put together a sick video of this song. More reminiscent of HCZ’s previous EP. Pay attention to the the flourishes between vocals on drum and guitar right before the breakdown. That’s one thing about the Zoo, they give you a respite before utterly destroying your face with temperatures approaching absolute infinity. They end it with a little piece of universal truth which is also the song title. And a hard stop.
Medolarke
This could be a b-side from Foo-Fighter’s first Album. The lead-in is followed by a wheeling guitar part and a call/respond vocal part. This is the album’s anthem for sure! Theres a violent trade off on guitar and bass… a small break and a solid piece of drumwork then the fade out. Nobody Sells For Less leaves you as classically as it entered.
So there you are kids. One for the record books! You can find this wonderful EP over at HCZ’s Bandcamp.
Recapping 2011: A Year of Singles
Every year I do some kinda recap about how I spent my year musically. This year I entrenched myself quite deeply into the local music scene. I think its funny now when people ask me what I do the first thing that comes out of my mouth is that I’m a music blogger. Saying that used to inspire a great deal of poserism in me. I was a pretender, just trying to figure out if I could hold a readers attention. Almost three years later and hear I am watching Flash Gordon, and figuring out which tracks were the best I’d heard this year. People actually value my opinion and as laughable as that still seems to me, I’m humbled by your unwavering fealthy to local music and to you tolerance for my coverage. So here they are 10 songs I rocked out to this year, in no particular order.
Sun Tea in the House of Atreus by Hushmoney
Hailing from Detroit, Hushmoney isn’t exactly local. No matter they rock out(and it’s my blog so nah)! Sort of a mix of Epic Metal and Dance Rock. Think Everytime I Die meets Cobra Starship.. Catchy though, The Breakdown is fucking rad as shit! Listen to that lead guitar! And its free so how about you get on that!
Yea yea I know this Track has been out for a while. But 2011 was the year I really, started listening to Black Water. After a meeting with Adam Copeland that went sorta strange (My Bad) at the end of 2010. I booked BW with Ben Franklin at Lucky 7. Although I had apparently seen them in 2009 at Automata Chino. Anyhow, I really got into these guys in 2011 and this song “Arizona” is one of my favs. Back in April, I asked Copeland about the inspiration for the song… about what incident it referred to. “A fictional one. Its a reverse terrorism fantasy tale of an American whose homeland (AZ) is invaded and fights back” He told me. It’s an intense concept and the song is just as wild.
I saw these guys at a show in the middle of the year. And I can’t get this song out of my head. That guitar riff is stuck in there. Seeing them live I gotta say their mid song banter rivals that of The Press’s Mike Henry.
In 2009 this song was my first impression of Billy Gray as well as Ben Franklin. In early 2011 it was released through Killing Horse Records as a B-side on the Urgency EP. What a timely song, though it’s loosely rooted in a true story, the Newburgh Four, I think the chorus really should be the new recruiting jingle for the US military. “Serve your country. Do us some good, it’ll get you off the street. Keep the fear alive keep the threat alive keep the population undercontrol.” Just listen to the thing, otherwise I’ll have to write out the whole damn thing out.
What Would Lou Reed Do – I Am The Heat
2011 was the year I moved to Brooklyn. I moved for several reasons some good (To embed myself into the Brooklyn Indie Scene a bit more) some not so good (I’d worked at every bar in Jersey City). One of the Bands that really took me under their wing was I Am The Heat. No song embodies these guys better than What Would Lou Reed Do. This song reminds me of the end of Wayne’s World when Crucial Taunt is playing to get Mr. Big to give them a record contract. It’s chaotic raucous and fun. That’s how I think of I Am The Heat.
Truthfully I can’t pick one song off Porter In The Making that I like better than the others. It’s a faceblast furnace of rock! The whole album should be listened to over and over again while sharpening knifes. One thing I can say with impunity about this band in that their recordings hold up just as well as their live shows. Be sure to catch them at the Killing Horse Records 2nd Anniversary show at Maxwells this Friday Jan 6th at Maxwells. It’ll be the last time to catch them before they go on hiatus from Live shows (hopefully for just a bit).
Retrograding the Masses – Holy City Zoo
What the fuck can I say about Holy City Zoo that I haven’t already. I’ll keep it simple, they belt it out and they wail! I know this is a curveball for the band (they think that Mark your Path is my favorite). Part of the Tiny Giant Artist Collective HCZ is crazy supportive of the local scene as well. Traveling far and wide to help spread the good word of underground music. I haven’t seen this much positivity in a scene since I started doing this blog.
This song has heart. It’s a little dark and little depressing but damn I just can’t get enough of it. It’s like a catharsis to the rest of the Imposter EP. Perfectly placed. I hear tell KIlling Horse is looking to release this on Vinyl!
Talk about a wall of noise! First off the video is great! EV and Paul are animals! This song is like combining Motorhead and the Rocketeer! And Live? Fuck, I’ve seen these guys play their hearts out for like 3 hours. Thats fortitude! The whole Shoot the Freak EP is like a night in county jail, that is to say you should experience it with your eyes and ears at the ready. You’ll be surprised, but at least you’ll be ready.
I have slept of these guys for WAAAAY too long. The album has been on my ipod since just a little before Brick City Sound Riot and this song jumped out at me the other day. The intro is great the melodic backing vocals contrast the main vocals perfectly. Importantly you can dance to this! The chorus just makes me feel like this song should be used in a commercial or as the intro to a sitcom.
BONUS ROUND
The First Time I Killed Someone – Wyldlife
My favorite song off the much celebrated LP. These cats are in store for big things mark my words. The story behind this song is kind of great as well. Back in 2009 Dave Feldman, was looking for a lil extra money. He tried his hand working as a cook at Lucky 7 with me… it didn’t take. (Dave Feldman doesn’t cook burgers he sings rock n roll.) Well, the guy that got his job also got his room in his apartment. I’m not sure of the exact details, but this song is a lil murder fantasy about his old roommate. You’re a dark dude Dave, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
I had a terrible time narrowing this list down, but I firmly believe that ten is a good cut off and I couldn’t even stick to that. That said, here are some other excellent songs I loves this year. I listened to them on the train or while I was writing, friends passed them around, and they are all on my playlist at home.
Big Boss Little Boss – The Press
Brick City Bios: Holy City Zoo
Coming to you fast and hard, Holy City Zoo brandishes post hardcore in that old New Brunswick way. AJ Russo, Joe Lanza, Frank DeFranco and Brian DePhillis Ambrosio have pieced together a sound so reminiscent of the town’s underground heyday that when they play there’s a 70% chance the Melody Bar will raise from it’s grave and start craving brains. It’s all thanks to intricate guitar work, guttural vocals and a rhythm section that seems to stand against the waves. Check out their new EP off Tiny Giant Records… And get ready to two step!
Zac Clark, Rocker Tycoon 