From the first raging notes that launch “Jagorilla,” Zulu Wave confirms they aren’t fucking around with the rocking out. The set opener and title track off the local quartet’s brand new full-length is carried on urgently driving passages of dissonant ripping guitar and pounding bass interspersed with drops of keyboard melody, the sexy-pained intones of frontman Michael Barrow soaring rigorously over top.
Zulu Wave keeps the fast and noisy momentum going through much of the album, Barrow’s vocals at turns silky croons or wild vibrato-strewn wails in stand-outs like grungy crunchy ball-buster “Fast Beats” and ominous driving reverbed-drenched odes “Mesh Head” and “Istanbul.” Jagorilla’s nine tracks, on the whole, manage to paint a rather vivid aural picture of what Zulu Wave can do live, no easy feat in a studio setting. (Critics’ Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars)
