Playmate of the Year

by William Ruhlmann Having failed to score commercially with their debut album Waste of Mind, Zebrahead returns two years later with more of the same, which is to say fast-paced hard rock on which Justin Mauriello's male adolescent musings are augmented by Ali Tabatabaee's aggressive raps. At their best, on the title song (sort of a musical version of a Farrelly Brothers movie in under three minutes), the group approaches the sound of Cheap Trick, with their shimmering guitar lines, furious rhythm playing, and Mauriello's self-deprecating, humorous lyrics. A few other songs, notably "The Hell That Is My Life" and "Wasted," are almost as effective, but much of Zebrahead's music is too busy for its own good, and when they attempt social commentary on "What's Goin' On?" (where have we seen that title before?) the results are embarrassing, while as a change of pace like "Livin' Libido Loco" is more reminiscent of Barry Manilow than Ricky Martin. The hidden track at the end of the album is a prank call made by Mauriello to Sony Music in which he impersonates his mother and demands to know when he is going to start seeing some money from his record contract. It may indicate the band will pack it in unless Playmate of the Year breaks through, but even with a tie-in to Playboy magazine that still seems like a long shot.