Zeke

Kicked in the Teeth (Epitaph)
by Jon Sarre

Just to allay any fears that signin’ to Epitaph was gonna lead to a kinder, gentler Zeke, uh, no, never happen. Kicked in the Teeth is a very apt title for the follow-up to ’96’s Flat Tracker, cuz, after a couple go-’rounds with this disc, I can feel my fillings ache (the ones that haven’t fallen out on their own). These fine fellows from Seattle (essentially Motörhead’s gearhead American cousins) lead off this record with a 36 second mini-screed called “God of GSXR.” Then, without so much as a pause, they fly through “Telepath Boy” and the third track, “Rodney” (and I have no idea what it’s supposed to be about, but, hey, it does have a detectable solo). Only after that (a little over two minutes later) do they slack up on the relentless pace and get mellow for the marathon (almost two minute!) “Twisted.” In all, it takes ’em 20 minutes to blast through the 17 tracks on the disc.

Obviously, Zeke aren’t a buncha people who are gonna spend a whole lotta time bludgeonin’ yer brain with huge concepts that yer gonna haveta worry ’bout interpretin’ for English class or somethin’ like that. Basically, they concern themselves with motorcycle racing and fuckin’, but singer Blind Marky Felchtone’s lyric poetry is often obscured by his tendency to sing really fast. There’re two songs, “Revolution” and “Revolution Reprise,” which may or may not have some kinda “brothers and sisters” political rhetoric, which may or may not be facetious. Fast machines and sex are somehow more appropriate subject matter anyway.

I figure if they thought anything was that important, they’d print the lyrics. Instead, the insert booklet displays a nasty letter from bassplayer Mark Pierce’s (presumably) ex-girlfriend and a restraining order request directed to (???) drummer Donny Paycheck (so, if I’m wrong ’bout that, no one sues, right?). Priorities gotta count for something and if ya really wanna sing along to something on Kicked in the Teeth, there’s always the Kiss cover. “Shout it out, shout it out, shout it out loud…!”