UNWAVERING: Zombi |
The title of Zombi’s second album will probably encourage people to compare their Can-like motorik grooves to the kind of MIDI metal favored for soundtracks to video games and laser-light shows. And yes, this multi-instrumentalist Pittsburgh duo are known to sit down while they perform and maybe even do an approximation of contorted guitarface while pulling off tight-as-hell bass-and-drum runs that power their long, locked-in songs. The schlocky moments — on “Legacy,” a keyboard fakes a goofy guitar lead in harmonic and rhythmic tandem with the bass, as if a couple of stoners were covering a Maiden refrain in their parents’ basement — are only the most obvious clue that Zombi’s unwavering momentum has as much to do with house or electro as with heavy metal. Indeed, the punchy groove of “Digitalis” is a tightened-up, streamlined version of the Beverly Hills Cop theme, and the title track conjures a Thriller-era Quincy Jacko groove.ZOMBI + GUAPO | July 4 | Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge | 617.864.EAST
On the Web
Zombi: http://www.zombi.us/
