woolcovered

So, if you were among the folks who wondered what Zack de la Rocha has been up to since Rage Against the Machine, you may be interested to know that he finally released something today.

One Day As A Lion released their debut, self-titled EP today. That's right, his big comeback, 8 years after RATM's breakup, is an EP. Who knows if an album will ever come out of it, as de le Rocha's now touring with a reunited RATM.

In fact, the timing of this seems a little shady to me. I can't help but wonder if he just started touring again to build up some hype to release this on the back of? I guess the only way we'll know is if RATM actually goes back in the studio or not.

Anyway, conspiracy theories or not, the result is pretty interesting. See the playlist, care of imeem. My thoughts are below.

[Note: Some tracks only play 30-second samples when embedded. If you'd like to hear the whole song, follow the link above to the actual imeem playlist site where the tracks should play in full.]

So what we have here is a duo consisting of de la Rocha played keyboards/rapping and Jon Theodore (of the Mars Volta fame) drumming. There's a bit more of an electronic lean, but the tunes don't really sound that far removed from RATM. The drumming is better (sorry Brad Wilk) but the keyboard lines sound just as funky as Tom Morello's trademark guitar riffs. Of course, Morello's always had a knack for making sounds that aren't really associated with guitar, but it doesn't seem like de la Rocha's working that far outside of the box he was in before. After a cursory listen, I have no doubt that RATM could 'cover' these songs.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, is there a point to doing this if RATM does get back together?