Fake Shark-Real Zombie! - Angel Lust EP

Artist: Fake Shark-Real Zombie!

Album: Angel Lust EP

Label: Self Released

When I first heard Fake Shark-Real Zombie's 2007 debut, Zebra! Zebra!, the band's unique blend of hardcore dance punk instantly drew me in.  Somehow the band created coherence out of chaos, producing an oddly accessible array of electronically enhanced "noise," guided by the continually changing pitch of vocalist Kevin Maher.  In short, their debut was an undeniably unique experience that left me wondering where the band could possibly go next.

Fast-forward to early 2009 and the band has finally unveiled their followup work, the Angel Lust EP.  To be honest though, I'm not really sure what to think about it.  On the one hand it's certainly not what I was expecting, but on the other hand this reaction was for very different reasons than I anticipated.  The  first track, "Angel Lust," sounds oddly familiar to anything written by disco-punk supergroup Men, Women & Children.  The guitars sound like they were pulled right from a strobe-light lit dance floor, and the backing vocals have that unmistakable disco smoothness.  Because Maher's voice sounds clearer than ever the band has placed more emphasis on lyrics.  While not deep or profound, the track's chorus has a curious loop that tickled my curiosity, and much like the band's instruments ten, challenged by logic: "Went through last week yesterday/didn't know it was gonna be this way when I went  through tomorrow twice today/ and I didn't know it was gonna be this way."  "Angel Lust" is without a doubt Fake Shark-Real Zombie's catchiest and most accessible track ever - but despite tapping my feet in time, I'm still not really sure how to react.  As a Fake Shark-Real Zombie track "Angel Lust" is probably going to be a grower.

However, the final three tracks find the band returning to more familiar territory.  "Running for the Razors" is the rawest track on the EP and provides the biggest dose of hardcore.  "Running For the Razors" successfully combines Mindless Self Indulgence's coherent vocal edge with the occasional screamo influenced outburst amidst a slew of distinct electronic and industrial sounds (from momentary static to singular drum machine beats).  While the result sounds more defined than past efforts, unlike "Angel Lust" it doesn't come at the expense of the track's chaotic core, showing that the band knows how to control and extract more melody from their innumerable sounds and influences without sacrificing their songs' unpredictable nature.  The other two tracks, "Horses in Heaven" and "Sestrillevante," land somewhere between "Angel Lust" and "Running for the Razors" but never quite achieve similar memorableness - they're still quite good, but tend to serve almost as transitions between the album's centerpieces.

While Angel Lust isn't the album I waned it to be, it's also not the album I didn't want it to be.  The band hasn't changed they're sound - they've simply rearranged their songs' emphasis.  EPs traditionally showcase a band's best independent tracks, and there's no denying that Angel Lust's songs have a stand alone quality absent from Zebra! Zebra!.  In sum, Angel Lust didn't quench my thirst for a new Fake Shark-Real Zombie album, but it still provided 12 minutes of some of the most unique hardcore dance-punk available.