Review: Zebrahead – “III”

MFZB – 26 Nov 2021

The first release from Zebrahead phase III takes the band in promising new directions.

Remember that sitcom Community? They had this great episode where one character took an entire class that was just dedicated to discussing whether or not Nicolas Cage was a good actor. The joke, of course, is that it’s a very difficult debate, when you think about it, because the actor’s filmography contains such great films as Adaptation and Leaving Las Vegas and such utter garbage as the Left Behind and Wicker Man remakes. Zebrahead will forever be my Nicolas Cage. I just find myself unable to decide if they’re really a good band or not. I tend to have very decisive opinions on things because my neurodivergent little brain wants everything to be one of two binaries: good or bad, moral or immoral, black or white. So the fact that weighing Zebrahead’s good and bad qualities always leaves me undecided frustrates me to no end.

But here’s what I do know: First, they’re fun. There’s a definite difference between being good and being fun. I derive endless joy at the fourth Crow movie by virtue of the fact that it’s terrible. Zebrahead undoubtedly know how to create fun songs with catchy pop hooks. Secondly, they’re definitely improving, as it’s pretty hard to deny that their last two albums, Walk the Plank and Brain Invaders, show a more focused band with less emphasis on party anthems and hollow feel-good lyrics. Third, they’re incredibly resilient. The band essentially launched their career right before Limp Bizkit crashed and burned and the entire rap-rock genre became a joke and the Millenial generation’s biggest embarrassment. They survived while still playing rap-rock because they focused on foreign markets in Europe and Asia. When Justin Mauriello, their original rhythm guitarist/co-vocalist, left in 2004 to start I Hate Kate, the band picked up Jank 1000 vocalist, Matty Lewis, who gave them a more typical pop-punk style that helped them really take off overseas. And when Lewis left in April of this year to make country music under the name Mendon Hale, Zebrahead quickly picked up their new member in the position, Adrian Estrella of Assuming We Survive, and have managed to put out this new five-song EP with Estrella less than six months after announcing him as Lewis’s replacement.

That brings us to this EP, III, so named because it debuts the band’s third co-vocalist, but also because it ushers in the third era in Zebrahead’s career. To oversimplify just a little bit, Mauriello-era Zebrahead was an alternative rock band, Lewis’ Zebrahead was a pop-punk band, and the Estrella Zebrahead—while probably too early to say for sure—sounds like it’s an emo band. The first thing that you notice when listening to this EP is that the band who once wrote a song called “I’m Just Here For the Free Beer” are definitely no longer here to joke around. Songs take on a more serious tone here as we venture into melodic hardcore territory. “Lay Me to Rest” is an unlikely combination of Queen and My Chemical Romance that works much better than you might think. Tabatabaee has traditionally been the big screamer of the band, but, on this track, Estrella demonstrates  his own screaming abilities. The second track, also the second single, “Long Way Down,” is definitely my favorite track on this release, even though I will admit that it’s kind of one of those feel good anthems I always criticize them for. But this one at least explores some dark and heavy themes like addiction and depression without flinching at its own serious subject matter.

Now “Homesick for Hope” and “Russian Roulette is For Lovers?” both pull us further into melodic hardcore territory, with a little bit of a Fallout–Boy-but-harder vibe, veering off for one quick detour into ska territory on the latter track. But then there’s “Out of Time” which is a blatant copy of Linkin Park, particularly the song “In the End.” I wanted to try to put aside the fact that Linkin Park is quite simply my least favorite band ever aside and judge the song on its own merits, but this song uses all the elements of the Linkin Park style that I don’t like. I’ve just always found it to be a dull and uninspired style of music. Not to mention that the song sounds so much like “In the End” that it crosses the line from tribute into knock-off.

When I emailed the band’s merch website asking if III was to be released on vinyl anytime soon, I was told that the plan was to put out a second EP and then combine them into an LP that would be released in physical forms. So Zebrahead aren’t going to be content giving us just these five tracks. But what we’ve heard so far from the third era of Zebrahead has been a distinctly different band from either Mauriello’s or Lewis’s Zebrahead. And if you’re ready to accept that and approach the Estrella era with an open mind, you just might find a good band there waiting for you. Yes, I think I just did call them “good.”