★☆☆☆☆
Californian outfit Zebrahead have released their 12th studio album – an impressive feat for any band – butWalk The Plankshows that not much ground has been covered since those first few albums in the late ’90s.
Walk The Plank is quote-unquote a ‘party album’. It’s full of high-energy rock that might be passable when played in the background, but falls flat when it’s brought into focus. The band’s sound can be described as half pop-punk and half rapcore, and every song draws on either Yellowcard or Limp Bizkit. As if to avoid such simple categorisation, there’s a token attempt at every genre under the sun – sitar opens the album but is never seen again; surf influences arise on ‘Headrush’ but nowhere else.
In the press material accompanying this album, bassist Ben Ozz says:“We wanted it to sound like you’re in an arm-wrestling competition at the beach while doing a keg stand.”
If you were to lose the arm-wrestling competition, fall off the keg, smack your head on the way down and get sand in your eyes and ears, you’d have a pretty good idea of what it’s like to listen to this album for any extended period of time.
Zebrahead’sWalk The Plankis out now through Rude Records.
