Album review: Raccoon Fighter “ZIL”

by Max Jones

Despite the gimmicky-sounding name, the Raccoon Fighter can really rock. Their latest album, ZIL, is an 8-song affair jam-packed with gritty guitar riffs and hard-nosed lyrics. When they sing, “I’m a sinner / but nothing’s wrong with me,” on the opening track, “Delivered,” it becomes clear that these guys believe in the rock n’ roll lifestyle they’ve adopted.

They follow that song with “Santa Tereza,” which sounds like a cross between the British Invasion and the Mexican Revolution. It’s a good thing. While the band shies away from catchy choruses or complicated arrangements, every song includes a drum beat and a bass line to keep your head nodding and your fist pumping.

As is often the case, the first three songs of ZIL are undeniably the strongest, and finishing with the third song, “My Ticket,” the listener knows what to expect from the rest of the album. Well-constructed hard rock with an ample dose of reverb never gets old, though, so the entirety of the disc is worth the listen. They do mix it up with a psyched-out tune to close the record, “Pyramid Scheme to Heaven,” and it’s a welcomed twist.

The Raccoon Fighter are probably a helluva live act, and the energy they put forth on this album would be enough to rock faces off in the right concert setting. At 8 songs and roughly 25 minutes long, ZIL has the aesthetic of a punk album but the instrumentation of blues-rock. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

Album release date: October 1, 2013