Perhaps nothing could make someone feel quite as lowly and earthbound as driving through rural Kansas in a Ford Taurus. But on a warm night in 2008, under an array of stars you can only see when away from city light pollution, the sound of Zombi's Cosmos emerged from my friend Dustin's chunky, gen one iPod and transported us to the outer reaches of the solar system... to the outer reaches of perception. That has always been a big part of the innovative rock duo's appeal — its songs driven by lush analog synths and propulsive rhythms work like a drug. Sure, the listener remains physically in the present moment — chopping up carrots, sweeping the kitchen floor or behind the wheel on the way to Lawrence — but they're also elsewhere: speeding through a neon-lit cityscape, fleeing from a madman with a knife, grinding gears in a machine shop, walking through the gloomy woods.
Appropriately enough, Zombi drummer Anthony Paterra says that all the band's albums must pass "The Car Test." "If I can take the recordings out on the road and for whatever reason get slightly more and more amped up and then suddenly realize I'm going faster than I realize, that's what I want to see."
Despite being on metal label Relapse Records, Zombi is not a metal band. Zombi is a two-man instrumental outfit that merges electronic and rock influences to create songs that are simultaneously mesmerizing and menacing. Zombi gets slapped with all kinds of labels that never quite fit right: prog rock, space rock, krautrock, Italo-disco. It's not that these labels are wrong, they're incomplete. Like all good things, Zombi contains multitudes.
As Zombi synth and bass wizard Steve Moore explains between nose nudges with his cat Honey during our Zoom interview, "We're Gen Xers, so every other album has basically been a backlash against the album before that. We're not happy doing the same thing. We want to evolve and grow and never make the same album twice."
This certainly rings true on Zombi's most recent releases — 2020 (appropriately released in July 2020) is aggressive and loud while Liquid Crystal (released in May 2021) is a more subdued, moodier affair. One commonality between these two releases is that they both show Zombi drifting from its synth-centric roots toward more traditional rock instrumentation. The synths are still there, but they're often lurking in the background. Meanwhile, eerie guitar licks and distorted bass take center stage, assuming the role of storyteller for the lyric-free duo.
"The bottom line is that synthesizers have kind of f—ing jumped the shark," says Moore. "Now everybody and their uncle has a modular rig, and they're all putting out releases on Bandcamp Friday, and I want to do something different. I can do other things, and now's the time to do those other things."
As two albums within a year might suggest, Zombi is jaw-droppingly prolific. In addition to the new records, last summer Zombi (and some select friends) released a series of 15 cover songs over the course of 15 weeks, featuring takes on songs by Pink Floyd, Genesis and The Cars. Moore spearheaded this effort and sees it as part of Zombi's continual evolution. "After producing those covers, I seriously feel like I can try or attempt anything," he says. "And I believe that undoubtedly the new Zombi stuff will reflect that."
Moore also composes for film, having scored The Guest and Mind's Eye and a handful of other cult thrillers and horror flicks. "Steve is a freak," Paterra says "The guy has ideas pouring out his head at all times." Both members have other musical endeavors going on, too. Paterra has a deliciously spacey side project called Majeure, while Moore releases fun dancey yacht rock under the moniker Lovelock.
For now, though, Zombi is returning to the road after a long hiatus. The current West Coast tour with The Sword marks the band's first substantial U.S. tour in over a decade. The guys call it The Reestablishment Tour. Through the '00s, Zombi played upwards of 150 shows a year, including stints opening for Italian horror icons Goblin and Swedish arena rockers Ghost. "For me right now, I'm all about touring," Paterra says. "As a drummer that's the one thing that feels the best, to just keep doing it night after night."
There's a cautious optimism to the way Moore and Paterra talk about The Reestablishment Tour. The band had had "big fun things" planned for the release of 2020 (the album) — a tour with a larger supporting band — but then 2020 (the year) happened, and everything went kaput. Paterra acknowledges a "specter of sickness" still looms over the current tour. The guys joke that if Moore gets sick Paterra will have to play a 45-minute drum solo every night. Given that it's Zombi, that would still probably be a transcendent ride. ♦
The Sword, Zombi • Tue, March 1 at 8 pm • $22-$24 • Lucky You Lounge • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • luckyyoulounge.com • 509-474-0511
