Fans of Don Caballero and Roadside Monument rejoice, for Zulu as Kono has put out a terrific new record, deserving of receiving all the praise that they won't get for breathing new life into the failing math-rock category. Zulu as Kono (who gleaned their name from the closing credits of television's Hawaii 5-0) is one of the quirkiest acts around, integrating two drummers, two guitarists, two bassists, all of whom contribute vocals. It makes sense that Zulu is from Austin, as the band follows in Austin's tradition of delivering some of the most intelligent and inventive indie rock in the country.
If there is any complaint to be made about Zulu as Kono, it would be that it sometimes seems as if they are going out of their way to not be catchy, but this is hardly a complaint. Their music is often disjointed, untimely, abrasive, frenetic, and random, but Zulu makes it work, putting it together in a way that assaults your senses, but also leaves you puzzled: how do they do that stuff?
The opening track ("Only Hate Can Make You Happy") starts out with a banging, clanging guitar that builds into a moving, almost pretty, exercise in the band's sonic ethic before slowing down and catching up, and then exploding once again. Whether it sounds like it or not, every note and chord is supposed to be exactly where it is. Every stop is absolutely precise, and the repeated mantra of "Only hate can make you happy" beats into your head like some subliminal conditioning exercise. In other words, it's great.
The best song on the record is "Perverted Son" an insane experiment in how a Moog can be beautifully corrupted by trippy rock music. The thing moves hard and fast, building and building and building and building and building and then stopping on a dime and starting all again. Finally, it slows itself down, in increments, while someone monotonically speaks something about someone's perverted son.
The band can be (somewhat) straight-forward and catchy, however, as evidenced by "Welflosh Kovitrice," an attempt at an Eastern European traditional polka, complete with banjo, accordion, and a Pedro the Lion-esque feel, at times, most notably in the bass work and beats. The band throws in old-sounding European-type vocals before the music builds up, and someone screams. It's almost…passionate, in a totally non-cheesy, non-emo way. And then the song is over and the moment lost, as the next song, "Flight (In Which I Die)" busts in with all its math-y glory.
I love this record. It challenges, stimulates, gives me a headache, makes me feel, and just has some really great songs on it. Challenging and affecting indie rock seems to be a scarce commodity these days, as so many bands fall into the example set by one or two, but Zulu as Kono falls nowhere near getting lumped into that category. What do they sound like? I don't know...Fugazi on a bad hair day?
