Zeke - Death Alley

Aces & Eights Records
(2001)

While Michelle won't be needing this one, I can't think of better background music to celebrate the 4th of July with. There is something undeniably "American" about Zeke, sans the historical romanticism and proclivity for mayonnaise sandwiches. Playing a brand of lightning fast punk-rock steeped in blues roots, it sounds like Motorhead swapped beer-guzzling for meth-smoking - which I would argue, is also undeniably "American." That is not to say it's a disheveled mess. Exemplary in tightness of instrumentation, leads aplenty blaze the fretboard E to E (estimation) with such a precision and fervor that leave Zeke peerless, not to mention incomparable, to anything currently related to punk. Allow me to reiterate: this shit rips like a pack of choppers in a circle pit. Diehards will dispute the placement of Death Alley within the hierarchy of Zeke releases. But I believe it to be the band's finest work, capturing the piss 'n' vinegar of their early years with a much needed upgrade in production.

I don't often indulge in the idiocy of patriotic dogma. But if you don't like Zeke, get the fuck out of my country.

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And on an unrelated note, Happy Birthday to Larry David. One of the most hilarious dudes ever. A true Jew through and through. Can't wait for the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm with Jerry and the gang.