Singing their poetry in the breeze

Zuma 85, The Allah-Las’ fifth album has the band continuing the experimental direction set forth by their previous album LAHS. After taking a brief break from making music, the band decided to expand on this experimental direction by adding elements of Paisley underground, glam rock, Krautrock and neo-psychedelia to their surf-rock sound. With such a wide range heard on this album, how do the results fare from their previous outing?

Starting off is the first track, “The Stuff.” Here, it’s apparent their surf-rock sound is altered by deadpan vocals which complement the vocoded hooks heard later in the chorus. Adding in the metronome-like cowbells and glam-punk chords give a strange harmony that works surprisingly well and is a creative change that makes a fresh approach. The next song “Jelly” has the band delve back to their surf-rock sound for a laid-back approach to songwriting. The slow tempo and lush guitars accompany the lyrics’ description of nature and behavior of aquatic sealife that gives the song a playful tone. “Right On Time” has a monotone vocal delivery that sounds like a neo-psychedelic take on Iggy Pop. The shuffled rhythm contrasted with lush backing vocals and surf rock guitars providing an abstract soundscape to the wild experimentation that permeates the album.

Moving deeper in the album, the experimentation is turned up a notch as their fourth track “Gb Bb” has band create a surf-rock/Krautrock hybrid. This song starts off with a bouncy tempo that combines the noisy distorted guitars of Can with the tongue-in-cheek vocal delivery of Captain Beefheart. This creates a refined mix that shows the Allah-Las are not just content with playing off with their influences, but expanding upon them as well. In “La Rue,” the band showcases an expressive surf-rock groove that compliments well with the lyrics. They paint a picture of moving along the waves, perhaps an oceanic metaphor for moving on to the next thing in life. Of course, if there is highlight to this album, is has to be the two contrasting songs of “Dust” and “Smog Cutter.” These two songs are great on their own, but together, they provide the ethereal soundtrack to an already expressive album.

The album is not completely without flaw, as there are some tracks that would have been better served if they were combined or have their runtime cut in half. A good example of this is the two tracks that follow “Gb Bb.” “Hadal Zone” starts with a slow riff that is played throughout the song. It is not bad – the problem arises when the same riff is played for four-and-a-half minutes with little to no variation to change up the composition of the soundscape. As a result, “Fontaine” is hurt by the long, droning intermission from the previous track. The same instrumental attempt is heard again in the last two tracks of the album “Zuma 85” and “The Fall.” Fortunately, these two tracks have some variation that keep them from being repetitive. “Zuma 85” has a slow, brooding drone that paints a picture of overlooking the sea from a balcony. Meanwhile, “The Fall” starts with a slow, electronic organ that plays throughout the track and closes off the album with the literal closing noise of the organ’s cover.

Moving away from the surf-rock that gave them notoriety, the release of Zuma 85 can give the band assurances that their experimental approach to songwriting has resulted in an album that is creative and fresh. Aside from some small flaws, the album itself is an example of injecting new life into an established sound. The Allah-Las have lunged forward into a new direction of their career, with Zuma 85 fans new and old can expect great things to come in the future.