I’m not quite sure what to make of The Zico Chain. They weren’t what I was expecting at all and while I don’t dislike them at all I’m just a little bewildered as to why bands so heavily influenced by Nirvana are still around 12 years on. I mean ‘Social Suicide‘ is a Nirvana b-side isn’t it? Oh no wait, it’s not. But it may as well be with the Kurt-esque vocals, squally guitars and the other Seattle-isms that litter the song. Nirvana died a long time ago, influenced a tonne of bands and don’t need resurrecting. I mean no-one will ever surpass them with that type of music and times change, so trying to re-hash a (literally) dead sound is all a bit pointless. It’s like bands covering ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ – why do it when you’ll only massacre an already overplayed track?
Thankfully for TZC there’s only one or two moments where they blatantly rip off Kurt, Krist and Dave, although the Seattle trio are an enormous influence. ‘This Thing’ and ‘Brain’ are okay enough songs, certainly borrowing grunge guitar sounds and song structures, but at the same time given enough of a 21st Century twist to make them interesting. And at 15-minutes and just six songs The Zico Chain certainly don’t overstay their welcome. I have a feeling had this continued over the course of an album I’d have been reaching for the skip button. Still, if TZC can work on forging their own sound a little bit then they could well do alright, but only if they drop the Kurt-isms first…
www.myspace.com/thezicochain
Hassle Records
paul