Rather like the shy lonely guy leaning up against the wall of a disco, I have been watching Zebrahead for a while but only from a safe distance. With the release of Phoenix (ICON records August 5th 2008), I am now on the edge of the dance floor wandering why I didn’t pick up on the fun earlier.

This, eagerly anticipated release comes with the previously unreleased Broadcast To The World DVD which features so many funny and revealing moments of life on the road with Zebrahead that it is worth the admission money alone. There are so many goodies on it – the official videos of “Anthem”, “Postcards From Hell”, “Broadcast To The World”, “Karma Flavored Whisky”, “The Walking Dead”, and the sublime “Broadcast #2”.

If that isn’t enough for you Z-heads out there, it also has a hilarious home movie section featuring a selection from each member of the band interspersed with a hectic tour diary. It takes in just about everywhere you’ve ever heard of – my local Paris, Cologne, The Swiss Alps, Luxembourg, London, Japan, Stonehenge, Croatia, and everywhere except Canada (there is a story here). Watch out for drummer Ed’s section and of course an appearance from a sinisterly hung over Ingvad that is not to be missed, (you have to watch the DVD). There is more.  Several live performances and an excellent photo gallery are also bolted on. There is no doubt that the album and this are a great package.

For us, who I guess have so far missed out on a lot of things Zebrahead, it is the crowd's reactions that has to be seen. This is just wild fun, complete with semi organised fan mania as the band sold out venues at all the locations listed above. The DVD is a great way into the band, whose strength is visual and whose sense of fun is infectious. It’s great to see bass player Ben saying thanks in Japanese. Classic.

Let’s move on to the album and fill in some background. Zebrahead is from California and have been together since forming back in 1996. We need to get something straight from the off – there are two singers. Ali Tabatabaee, who brings his own slant on rap, fronts alongside Matty Lewis, who joined the band in 2004 replacing original vocalist Justin Mauriello. This is the key to the band, the dynamic between the rap of Ali and the more mainstream vocals of Matty. Many bands with such an essential element to it may have folded when faced with losing half of your vocal team but Zebrahead found Matty Lewis and he has proven to be the perfect addition.

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