In the typical Zebrahead fashion this whole album has has some very technical guitar and bass parts throughout all of the songs on the album. But the rhythm is a tad boring using power chords throughout every chorus, but it seams to work for them so there's no point judging them there really. There does seam to be a story attached to the album, but the story is more like the progression of a party, hence the name of the album, call your friends. With the new guitarist in the band, Dan Palmer you can tell with some of the lead parts he as been influenced by some of the past Zebrahead discography especially with some of the sliding which he has been using in his solos, however something which he using which is unique to Zebrahead is the use of the Wah pedal. Although personally I feel it's a little overused in this album it is used well to get unique sounds out of his guitar.
Ali Tabatabaee and Matty Lewis really do know how to create catchy lyrics, this can be from Ali's trademark rapping which in some parts of the album is just unbelievably catchy. This can be on "Murder on the Airwaves" for example. Matty also still knows how to make catchy choruses. This always has been his style since in joined the band in 2005. Let be honest, it would not be Zebrahead if they only had one vocalist, in fact that'd be rather dull. But fortunately this is not the matter because in this album the vocals really do mix perfectly which can be shown in "Call Your Friends" and "With Friends Like These, Who Needs Herpes?", which is my favorite song on the album by far. Some of the effects that have been used on Ali's rapping just seam to give you goose bumbs with how brutal they sound, for example at the start of the chorus at "With Friends Like These, Who Needs Herpes?" But the one downside, it does seam to be a little repetitive, this can be from some of the melodies that have been used and with the lyrics that have been used in the album.
Overall Impression: When you compare this album to other albums that have been released recently, this is a 9/10 album, with bands recently going for more of an indie sound, it's quite refreshing to hear a band advance there sounds more of an punk fashion but they do still have some of there ska elements in the album.
By far the most impressive song on the album is "With Friends Like These, Who Needs Herpes?" With the piano that's used at the beginning as the band said themselves, it really does sound like the soundtrack to be killing an dragon. A couple of my other favorite songs on the album are "Murder on the Airwaves" and "Panic in the Streets." You can really hear how Matty's vocals have improved in the chorus of "Panic in the Streets," he just seems to be able to pull off sounding a little more aggressive. What do I love about the album, well the vocals styles, the guitars and how well they seam to work together, the drums which just always seams to fit the songs perfectly even if it may get a little boring playing a 4/4 beat all the time. Lastly the bass which is just as catchy as ever in its ska style. What don't I like about the album. Repetitiveness. This can be with the lyrics that are used and with the lead guitar (but it's Dan's first album with Zebrahead so I'll let him off ;)) If this album was lost I'd have to buy it again, with the albums that have been released recently it does stand out by a mile in this genre.
Ali Tabatabaee and Matty Lewis really do know how to create catchy lyrics, this can be from Ali's trademark rapping which in some parts of the album is just unbelievably catchy. This can be on "Murder on the Airwaves" for example. Matty also still knows how to make catchy choruses. This always has been his style since in joined the band in 2005. Let be honest, it would not be Zebrahead if they only had one vocalist, in fact that'd be rather dull. But fortunately this is not the matter because in this album the vocals really do mix perfectly which can be shown in "Call Your Friends" and "With Friends Like These, Who Needs Herpes?", which is my favorite song on the album by far. Some of the effects that have been used on Ali's rapping just seam to give you goose bumbs with how brutal they sound, for example at the start of the chorus at "With Friends Like These, Who Needs Herpes?" But the one downside, it does seam to be a little repetitive, this can be from some of the melodies that have been used and with the lyrics that have been used in the album.
Overall Impression: When you compare this album to other albums that have been released recently, this is a 9/10 album, with bands recently going for more of an indie sound, it's quite refreshing to hear a band advance there sounds more of an punk fashion but they do still have some of there ska elements in the album.
By far the most impressive song on the album is "With Friends Like These, Who Needs Herpes?" With the piano that's used at the beginning as the band said themselves, it really does sound like the soundtrack to be killing an dragon. A couple of my other favorite songs on the album are "Murder on the Airwaves" and "Panic in the Streets." You can really hear how Matty's vocals have improved in the chorus of "Panic in the Streets," he just seems to be able to pull off sounding a little more aggressive. What do I love about the album, well the vocals styles, the guitars and how well they seam to work together, the drums which just always seams to fit the songs perfectly even if it may get a little boring playing a 4/4 beat all the time. Lastly the bass which is just as catchy as ever in its ska style. What don't I like about the album. Repetitiveness. This can be with the lyrics that are used and with the lead guitar (but it's Dan's first album with Zebrahead so I'll let him off ;)) If this album was lost I'd have to buy it again, with the albums that have been released recently it does stand out by a mile in this genre.