Zack de la Rocha never quite got his shit together when RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE first split. A few guest appearances here and there, but his long rumored solo album never materialized. Now that he and his RAGE band-mates have reunited, it’s quite odd that de la Rocha finally has a full release (albeit an EP) of original material. ONE DAY AS A LION teams him up with former THE MARS VOLTA drummer extraordinaire, Jon Theodore, and the result is a rather stripped down mix of rock beats (with a sometimes “live” hip-hop feel) alongside de la Rocha‘s fiery rap vocal attack. It’s not surprising that it’s a stripped down affair considering the band is only the two of them with de la Rocha also contributing effects and keyboards. But, they still manage to generate a lot of noise. The self-titled release has a spontaneous and energetic vibe, and de la Rocha‘s familiar voice is both rallying and exciting. Lead track, “Wild International,” is reminiscent of de la Rocha‘s defiant, beat-heavy collaboration with DJ Shadow, “March of Death.” The eponymous “One Day as a Lion” track pumps a funkified “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” drum beat played with the tasty finesse that Theodore specializes in. One Day as a Lion is only a scant five songs long but appropriate in length for the limiting parameters of two men equipped with just drums, a keyboard, and a microphone. While the world still yearns for a rich and powerful de la Rocha solo album, this EP helps to at least deliver a crisp shot of Zack that the world so badly needs. Perhaps ONE DAY AS A LION will be enriched in the future through additional members or guest participants. (ANTI-)
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Zack de la Rocha, Ex-THE MARS VOLTA Drummer Launch New Project
Zack de la Rocha and former THE MARS VOLTA drummer, Jon Theodore, have teamed for a new creative collaboration called ONE DAY AS A LION. The band just signed to Anti- Records, who will be releasing their eponymous debut EP worldwide on July 22nd.
The band writes:
“ONE DAY AS A LION is both a warning delivered and a promise kept.
“A defiant affirmation of the possibilities that exist in the space between kick and snare. It’s a sonic
reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the
brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask. ONE DAY AS A LION is a recorded interaction between Zack de la Rocha (vocals/keyboards) and Jon Theodore (drums) from Los Angeles, California.
“The name taken from the infamous 1970 black and white, captured by legendary Chicano photographer George Rodriguez featuring a center framed tag on a white wall in an unspecified section of Boyle Heights. It reads: ‘It’s better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb.’ This record is a stripped down attempt to realize this sentiment in sound.”
EP tracklisting is as follows:
1. “Wild International”
2. “Ocean View”
3. “Last Letter”
4. “If You Fear Dying”
5. “One Day as a Lion”
For more information ONE DAY AS A LION, check out these links:
http://onedayasalion.org
http://www.myspace.com/onedayasalion
