The Zico Chain – The Zico Chain

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Hassle Records
Produced by Teo Miller

The debut self-titled EP from The Zico Chain is the kind of neighbour-irritating racket that everyone loves to pump through open windows at the height of summer. There’s a lot more to them than that, though.

Opener Rohypnol has a seriously compelling, tough main riff, but the Wednesday 13‘s-poorer-relation vocals do it no great favours. The problem could be that the vocals are ever-so-slightly distant, getting a little drowned out by the thunderous bass and wall-of-sound guitars. In actual fact, this is a theme throughout all six tracks on offer here. Chris Glithero’s voice has that nasty L.A. rock tinge to it that has served people like Blackie Lawless (of W.A.S.P.) so well at times, but he’s constantly fighting to be heard above the din.

A rather unfortunate influence to name is the drumming of White Stripes talentless half Meg White. Possibly the worst drummer the World has ever seen, one bar of any song you care to pick from this CD is better than her entire body of work in terms of drumming. Far more evident is the band’s shared love of driving English rock like Motörhead. Of course the tendency to get a bit too punky for my liking when playing this kind of music is all too present, but when they avoid that and actually create something more involved (Social Suicide, for instance), they really come into their own. Equally capable of complete mayhem, closer The Lonley Ones is a frantic slab of pure aggression that brings the CD to a crashing end.

In all honesty this is an extremely promising debut EP. The riffs, songs and voice are all there. A little lacking in lead guitar, but other than that it’s a solid collection, and with a slightly sharper mix, could have been outstanding. The main problem is that it’s far too short. At less than fifteen minutes, many people put out three-track singles of the same length. For a six-track EP this does not represent value for money.

“ tendency to get a bit too punky ”

Tracklist: Rohypnol / This Thing / Rollover / Social Suicide / Brain / The Lonely Ones

Written by Andy Lye
More: EPs, Hard Rock, The Zico Chain