The band’s bio states: “Zerell are an exciting rock band from London that gelled together at the start of 2004 after a few false starts. Upon finding a solid line up and with a shared love of punk, both old and new, modern rock and fun they quickly set about getting a set of songs together and playing as much as they could. Think pop tunes, rock guitars and boundless energy. If you’re a fan of Weezer, Green Day, Alkaline Trio you should definitely check these guys out.”
I’d tend to disagree lads. While they may well be a fan of the bands listed, and come from London, their new CD ‘Lonely Street’ showcases little of the alleged “boundless energy” or “pop tunes”. All I can see and hear are some God-awful lyrics, poor guitar riffs and wishy-washy vocals. Hmmm…
I don’t want to be too harsh because at least Zerell have made an attempt at creating songs with some harmonies and melodies by using a dual vocal style which is layered reasonably well. While it doesn’t always work, their effort is admired and noticed, so full marks for that. It’s just the rest which lets this three-track CD down. Neither vocal stands out in the mix enough to really make an impact, while the drums plod along predictably and the basslines (the ones you can hear that is) merely copy the average guitar riffs. And don’t get me started on the lyrics. With lines like “I will hunt you down and I will cut you up” you’d think Zerell had graduated from the Senses Fail school of writing. Lyrics should be the mainstay of any song, but when you make the listener piss themselves at 6am on the way to work because they’re so appalling, you know you are doing something very, very wrong. Hence ‘My Blood Is For Real’ is surely a piss-take and not a serious attempt at a song. How else can you explain “My blood is for real, You know the way I feel, Cos this is the best deal”?
The three songs here are pretty poor, but at least they’re trying. There’s an attempt at creating melodies and harmonies, so at least that is something, but the three songs on offer here are poor and there’s no escaping that. Going back to the drawing board, and specifically working on better lyrics, is an absolute must if Zerell are to make any impact at all.
www.zerell.com
Paul