|
My vision of the archetypical Zeke fan is of a cigarette-smoking booze hound who's quite content to pass the time at the bar. Is this the same person who's likely to want to relive the Zeke experience via a DVD documentary of the band live in action? It's certainly debatable. Obviously, Dead Teenager's marketing department and massive army of PR agents have done the research and decreed that the average Zeke fan does indeed want to experience the digital coming of Zeke. The punk rocker versus technogeek dichotomy has been created, though I have my doubts as to whether many Zeke fanatics even own a DVD player. And while nothing can truly embody the feverish energy and excitement of Zeke's primetime live shows, this DVD release does an excellent job of portraying the band's personal quirks and passion for the live rock experience.
Zeke have always been known for their brevity, and this DVD follows suit. Clocking in at 60 minutes (with approximately 20 minutes of bonus material), Zeke You! follows the Seattle speedsters around the United States and Europe as they play their brash punk hearts out to loving fans. The constantly changing surroundings will keep the typical short attention-span Zeke fan entertained, but the band doesn't skimp on meatier material, either, providing plenty of tantalizing interviews, skull-smashing shows and amusing one-liners. These keep Zeke You! from ever becoming a bore.
The bulk of the DVD revolves around the band playing various dives around the country. While the recently-reunited Zeke is now a three-piece, this footage includes long-time stage-right guitarist Sonny Riggs in all of his tattooed glory. The muddy music is a bit disappointing and definitely not for the uninitiated Zeke fan looking for his or her first punk indoctrination; while there are plenty of high-speed punk numbers here, identifying particular Zeke tracks can become quite a task. The one thing that's for sure is that vocalist/guitarist Marky Fletchtone can perform minor acts of Godliness on his fretboard. Fletchtone shreds like a man possessed, leaving a path of destruction in his wake. It's best just to sit back, stare at the screen and take in the band's mesmerizing energy, ignoring the fact that a lot of it is a blurry mess of overdriven guitars, wailing solos and tinny cymbals.
Watching Zeke play for 40 minutes straight would definitely be a drag (unless you were actually at the show), so the man behind the Hi8 videocam, Keenan Kelly, does his best to keep things interesting. The various show footage is interspersed with Kelly analyzing Zeke's eating habits, perusing guns and guitars at the local pawn shop and putting various audience members on the spot with loaded questions. Kelly asks several unsuspecting Zeke concert attendees "What's the secret to good time rock 'n' roll?" While the majority of answers quickly falter to "sex" and "drugs", a sprightly blonde responds with "Beer and more beer!" and a confused male quickly retorts with "Don't let the good times end". It's mildly amusing and gives you a thorough understanding of how the average Zeke fan's pea-sized brain operates.
The final portion of the "movie" showcases Zeke's journey to Europe in 2002. The clip begins with Sonny and Jeff doing their best German accents on the transcontinental plane flight. A drunken Jeff lazily raises his plastic cup of beer, only to be lamely slapped by Sonny, who drawls "Achtung!" It's reason enough not to sit in front of, next to, or behind any rock 'n' roll band when flying overseas. The sound quality is a bit better with the European footage, as demonstrated when the band cranks out "Evil Dead" to the zealous crowd. Kelly goes off on a tangent, prodding two innocent Stuttgart fans with harassing questions. Not only do the Germans have a difficult time figuring out what Kelly is talking about -- I was confused as well, and I speak English!
Zeke You!'s bonus tracks include the band's first (and unreleased) video, some early footage of the quartet in 1996 and two very low-budget videos. The 1996 footage is the best, as the band prepares to play Seattle's "Pain in the Grass" festival. The much younger-looking band (see what alcohol and weed does to you, kids?) tears through its set as a large slam pit forms in the middle of the crowd. Zeke pounds out "Ride With Zeke" and Kiss's "Shout it Out Loud" with sound quality that, surprisingly, rivals the main portion of the DVD.
The grainy-looking low-budget videos match live footage to the prerecorded music of "Twisted" and the "Let's Get Drugs". There's not much to look at except for the band in various rock 'n' roll poses and a scary negative of Donny Paycheck. Unless you've never heard these Zeke classics, the videos really aren't worth your time. Lasting a little over a minute, the unreleased video of "Highway Star" alternates between house party footage and lots of stock car crashes.
While it's easy to point out the DVD's minor faults, keep in mind that this isn't a big-budget major label release. Dead Teenager Records has done an impressive job capturing Zeke's the raw essence and earnest energy. It's best to check out the band's killer releases before plunging into Zeke You!, but the DVD is still a great companion to the group's catalog. Whether making an appearance on CD, LP, 7" or DVD, Zeke has never lost sight of their purpose -- blasting out chaotic punk-rock injected riffs. Zeke on video will never compare to the real deal, but sometimes DVD is all ya got!
-- Andrew Magilow
|
