Zebedy Rays - The Shape to Shake

by Adrian Huggins

published: 5 / 4 / 2007

Label: Zebedy Rays
Format: CDS

Unfashionable-sounding indie guitar rock from highly promising new Worcester-based group Zebedy Rays

Review

This is the debut EP from Zebedy Rays. The British threesome hail from the renowned rock city Worcester. Okay, well, maybe they’re the first band I’ve heard out of Worcester, but that may change as these guys could put Worcester on the musical map. This four track EP by the Zebedy Rays follows the band's successful career since their inception around a year ago. It is the culmination of a band who hav put a lot of work in which has paid off as they have made a name for themselves on the local scene and around the country with their brand of jazz tinged rock 'n' roll music and an exciting live show. They sound similar to the likes of early Incubus and Red Hot Chili Peppers with a bit of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion thrown in for good measure. This EP is the work of three guys who were never going to be content to follow trends or fads. Their music does not scream any particular musical moment which in my eyes is a good thing. This could have been made 10 or 15 years ago, or last week, and the beauty of that is that is fresh and, while their blend of music is of course nothing at all new, I am not sat listening to the songs on the EP thinking about how many other new bands Zebedy Rays sound like. Opener ‘The NHS' and ‘Night Owl’ both have a true blues and jazz swing about them ,while the guitar soloing and Joe Strummer meets Reef vocals of Adam Hickman bring the sound right up to date perfectly. While this is not a perfect EP, the Zebedy Rays are clearly a band that have their own vision of where they want to take their music and by all accounts they are doing a great job. The vocals of Hickman, who also provides the guitar work, are raspy and sound like that of a rock and roll front man rather than a note perfect singer, and at times sound a little like those of Pete Doherty with more emphasis on heart and feeling than that of sounding pitch perfect. It is obvious that these guys must put on a great show, by the sheer energy of these four songs. With Josh Powell’s drum work keeping everything perfectly in time and up beat, Danny Meigh’s bass lines are as groovy as they come and when the three combine they sound like a band that have been together for much longer than they have.