Z*L by Z*L
— Mike Hill —
— Bat Child —
— Black Luck —
— Mermaid Knife —
— Steev Millar —
— Leave Me Low —
— A Town Called Romeo —
— Black Meds —
— Copper Bell —
— When I was Dead —
STREAM
MP3
MDRF026 | APRIL 2013 | 40:57 | MP3 FULL-LENGTH
Power-psych rock and roll. Within these 10 tracks you’ll hear screaming noise guitar, beautiful country ballads, sweaty rock and roll and prickly modern rock accompanying ghostly images and eerie narratives. This collection covers a lot of ground. It’s a really fun album and harkens back to a time when rock and roll was still dangerous, while setting a high bar for stylized rock to come.
“The self-titled debut from Z*L is dark and edgy, but surprisingly tender (albeit in sad ways) in spots. But popping offbeat surprises and playing with a steady sense of exploration are at the heart of this band's work here.
The trio of guitarist Ian Adams, bassist Isabel Riley, and drummer Jack "Knife" Guilderson conjures a crackling and bruised tone across this 10-song set released by Midriiff Records that for the most part pokes around the dark alleys; what do you expect from a record with one song called "Black Luck" and another called "Black Meds"?
But amid the rip offs in "Mike Hill" and seedy situations in "Steev Millar," Z*L tucks in the sad demise of the drifter from "A Town Called Romeo" and strikes a mournful tone on "When I Was Dead."
Adams and Riley swap leads vocals and sometimes harmonize, so for a scrappy garage combo of this sort, that kind of of arrangement provides some sonic depth without having to tamper with the compact, prickly song structures that give the band its identity. It also highlights the richness of the abstract images woven into the caterwauling.
Z*L doesn't barrel through its songs in traditional punk fashion even though the trio is definitely playing against popular trends. Instead, it stakes its outsider turf with dirty, reverb-laced melodies and and loose-limbed rhythms that tease at being sloppy before you realize just how efficient they are. This is music that manages to be simultaneously dark and vivid.” — Scott McLennan, Boston Globe