Wonky lyrics head-to-head with crafty guitars and angular songwriting
author: Splendid Magazine
It's hard to know exactly what to make of The Zest Of Yore -- and that's probably how they like it. Wonky lyrics about the "Waka-Waka" (on the aptly named "Waka-Waka") come head to head with crafty guitars and angular songwriting (see the equally lyrically obtuse "Spiritually Challenged") to create an album that's simply too compelling to be written off as, uh, goofy.
"The Catapulting Zoo"'s harmonies provide one of Throw It At The Moon's few pure pop treats, but the Zest boys seem more interested in exploring the inner workings of their songs, deconstructing them (as they do on the acoustic "Ida") and reassembling the damaged pieces into Flashing Lights-style pop ditties like "Brandish Your Uniform".
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prolific lo-fi recordings + jazz schooling
author: Mariel Tam
Guided by Voices’ prolific lo-fi recordings are an obvious influence here, but so’s the jazz schooling that all four skilled musicians are rooted in. Zest of Yore deftly mixes well-written, quirky pop tunes, low-key excursions into folk, and jokey tongue-in-cheek numbers (like the falsetto-heavy "L.D.S.M.," short for "love and drugs and sex and music").
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