Review Summary: A punk rock album with rap interjections and catchy as hell choruses.
Zebrahead are a band of two distinct phases: Their early years spent in the ska-punk ghetto of La Habra, making music that was a heavy fusion of hip-hop, punk rock, funk, thrash and hard rock; and their latter day phase of being a modern rock/punk rock band leaning far on the side of faster, heavier, and more demanding material. Many consider MFZB as being the start of their modern day phase, with less of an emphasis on funk rhythms and textures, and more emphasis on punk speed and stripped back playing. Their third album on major label Columbia and fourth overall ended up being the last album featuring original singer/ guitarist Justin Mauriello to be released officially in the US and Europe. Mauriello left shortly after work was complete on the album and touring had finished. In this time, outtakes album Waste Of MFZB was released in Japan, featuring his last songs with the band.
The sound of Zebrahead largely hinges on the rapping/singing dynamic of Ali Tabatabaee and Justin Mauriello. While that brings to mind early 2000s nu metal acts such as Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, Zebrahead brings more emphasis on intricate songwriting and overall more diverse songwriting to the table. MFZB largely ditches the funk inspired rhythms and playing style on its predecessors Waste Of Mind and Playmate Of The Year; it favors hard-rocking playing and more of an emphasis on speed. All 15 of the songs on the CD have the same basic core: a rocking rhythm, infectious rhyming, and soaring chorus. While by reading that, you'd think that all the songs sound the same. The opposite is true, in fact, all the songs on the album bring their own unique energy and vibe to the mix: Rescue Me, Falling Apart and Let It Ride bring some high energy arena punk rockers to the mix, while Expectations and Dear You have a sentimental and ballad-y type song structure and lyrics. Some of the more mid-paced songs like House Is Not My Home and Runaway have some beautiful lyrics and melodies, made even more in-your-face by the abrupt rapping and stop-start rhythms of rapper Tabatabaee. The standout moments on the album come however from the forays into hardcore territory: Radio single Falling Apart has a grooving drum beat and an almost perfect modern rock guitar riff that is sure to get any moshpit moving. NOFX-esque thrasher Type A brings one of the most hardcore structures and aggressive performances the band has ever produced, rivaled only by "HMP" from their 2009 album "Phoenix". Another speedy highlight comes from track 5: The Set-Up. This song seamlessly melds the hip-hop rhythms and rhymes with the hardcore rock and punk stylings of bands such as Pennywise and the Offspring, and pulls it off with seamless integrity. Creds go to guitarist Greg Bergdorf, who pulls off some of the greatest solos in punk. His Tom Morello-style scratching on the track Strength, combined with his overall mastery of sweep-picking on Runaway and reggae-style clean lead lines on tracks like Into You really serve the songs well. He can also throw in a classic rock style solo on songs like Hello Tomorrow and Expectations.
Overall, a cracking album with almost no bad songs. The only low point I can point to would be Track 12 Let It Ride, but only due to its fairly generic pop-punk sound and production. The song listing is also perfectly placed, with opener Rescue Me bringing the album in with some of the most bombastic playing seen on a rock album, and immediately followed up by Over The Edge and Strength to give the listener a truly thrilling ride. After this album, it could be said that Zebrahead went too far in the pop-punk direction, and before they might have gone overboard on the funk stylings. However: on this album they nail it.
