Ed Volker aka Zeke Fishhead.
Hanging Man.
cd review.
Often it is the contrarian inside each of us that
elicits our greatest work. Ed Volker, bandleader
Of the New Orleans - based tour monster known as The Radiators,
takes the road less traveled to deliver thirteen delicious
tracks of his homeade funk bisquiits. The album is
called, The Hanging Man, by Zeke Fishhead. It
Includes original cover art by Ed Volker and a trainload
of intense, original tunes that you have never heard before.
The title track, Hanging Man,, is a funky, user-friendly
excursion to define the undefinable.
"You do what you will. I`ll do what I want.
Do you understand ? Im the Hanging Man."
Making no bones about it, Zeke Fishhead
Is steadfast in his suspicion of anything
land-based. "You do what you can. I`ll do what I can`t,
Shifting like the sand, Hangiing Man.."
Look out MTV, here comes Zeke Fishhead.
Blood On The Mirror has a distincly pop feel
akin to finest offerings from the Human League,
Simple Minds or even Oingo Boingo.
"Blood on the mirror. Tears on the screen.
When we wake up, it`ll all be a dream." Whether
or not you want to see Zeke Fishhead on TRL,
this is Ed Volker stretching his musical definitions
and doing an insanely good job of it. But relax
Fishhead Nation, it`s the only pop song I detected,
and it`s awesome.
On The Great Iron Chair is Zeke Fishead at his finest. A great tale to tell and a grand piano to help tell it.
"The clouds part. It`s spring again.
The squirrells gamble with a will.l
Birds sing in the branches, free with ease, above
the house where time stands still."
The feel is classical. The emotion is elegant. The song
is all Zeke. "Some blows in life, are just too cold and hard.
The angels took him long ago, still she sits
on the great iron chair." Again, this is a fine musician
really flexxing his muscles and displaying a mastery
of his craft that will make your jaw drop.
Spooky, enchanting, with a steady backbeat,
cascading guitars and organs, Help Me is a track
that draws the listener in and captures them.
"All those nights I got in fights, what was I trying to prove ?
But I exist to resist, anyting that won`t let me move."
Help Me, in my opinion, as is as close as you will get
to a Radiators` song on Hanging Man. It has that
bop-your-head greasiness the Rads are known for.
All in all, Hangin Man is a departure from the Zeke Fishhead
that live music fans have come to know as the main
songwriter for the ferocious, guitar - driven Radiators.
However, this is most definitely Fish Head Music. The Hanging
Man is a collection of music that will make you feel
lucky just to hear it. Stellar in quality, impeccably unique
and inpired, Zeke Fishhead has brought something to
the table that everyone should appreciate, regardless
of what your definition of great music happens to be.
Gregory Harrison Gunther (Lex)
