One Day As A Lion

Self-titled EP

(Anti)

Zack de la Rocha has genuine ferocity. Whether you first heard him leading the hardcore outfit Inside Out, spitting vitriolic rhymes in front of the stadium-filling protest rockers Rage Against the Machine or his latest— along with Jon Theodore—as the duo One Day as a Lion, you can always tell he means what he says and delivers it with genuine fury. Do I need to qualify how “real” de la Rocha’s passion and intensity is? He was the one who disassembled Rage Against the Machine at its platinum-selling height because he felt they had lost their way. While the other members of Rage started the diluted rock-radio outfit Audioslave with Chris Cornell, he was pushing his creative envelope—working with artists as varied as Trent Reznor, DJ Shadow, and Roni Size—while keeping his political edge sharp, involving himself in Iraq war protests, raising money and awareness for South Central Farmers, and interviewing Noam Chomsky. In light of Rage’s reunion and resurgence in the last year, it is only further invigorating to see that de la Rocha can be every bit as a good and ferocious without them. That’s what One Day as a Lion proves. With former Mars Volta drummer Theodore, de la Rocha—who plays keys across the record—crafts a lean and sparse electro-funk environment perfect for those politically charged and culturally relevant rhymes he still ably brandishes. As the duo headily describe it, “It’s a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask.” Okay, fine, whatever. Sounds like a bunch of pretense, but, on the other hand, it’s all here. Tracks like “Wild International” or the Fugazian “Last Letter” sound like lean, angry tug-of-wars—more proof that de la Rocha never let his guard down. He’s more potent than ever and this is some of the best music/political statement he’s made yet. Why wait for a full-blown Rage Against the Machine reunion album? The revolution is right here.

—donny kutzbach