Zip Tang is a band from Chicago. They’ve recently released their debut album entitled Luminiferous Ether. When I got my hands on this CD, I became really intrigued at my first glance of the cover. Well, the tracklist is composed of 7 tracks, most lasting 5-6 minutes, a 10-minute one and one 18-minute suite at the very end, entitled… Tarkus. Yes, there’s no mistake here. It’s the same ELP’s Tarkus, which was shortened by Zip Tang to slightly less than the 20-minute original composition. And I have to say that although the Zip Tang’s rendition differs a little bit from the original, it is still a really successful culmination of the album. The preceding 45 minutes of Zip Tang’s own compositions also make a very good impression. At the same time, the music sounds very original, because the band often goes beyond the most explored areas of progressive rock: they particularly sound like Frank Zappa, and jazzy King Crimson – generally speaking, jazz rock climates, which are not always easy in reception, but sound very mature and interesting.
A vocalist (and at the same time a saxophone and keyboards player) Marcus Padgett sounds like a cross between Ray Watson from Echolyn and the late Layne Staley from Alice In Chains. Instrumentally speaking, in Zip Tang’s music you can hear not only Zappa but also echoes of the style of Red Hot Chili Peppers, King Crimson (intensive sax parts), Uriah Heep (just listen to the effective Hammond in Doctor Plush, in my opinion the most interesting recording on the album) or even early Pink Floyd. However you can’t say that Zip Tang plays exactly like any of the popular progressive bands. This American quartet draws on different sources and all those well-known musical themes are only ways that they use to achieve the aim to form their own, original and indeed interestingly played music.
