Featured Rock Music News

The name One Day as a Lion might not set off any alarms, but the parties involved should be familiar. The brand new thing from Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha and ex-Royal Trux/Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore released their self-titled debut EP to the world July 22nd from the Anti- label. The EP was recorded by Robert Carranza at Ocean Way Recording. Since the breakup of Rage in 2000, Zack has remained relatively quiet, officially releasing a collaboration with DJ Shadow and a handful of other material but keeping largely inactive while his former bandmates formed Audioslave.

ODAAL's premiere single "Wild International," falls squarely within the realm of expectation with delivery, class struggles, politics, and religion, etc.

Track Listing:
01 - Wild International
02 - Ocean View
03 - Last Letter
04 - If You Fear Dying
05 - One Day As A Lion

Ann Powers (Los Angeles Times): "Theodore's drumming is skittish and sharp, forming hostile tangles with De la Rocha's lyrics, causing an itchy feeling instead of fist-pumping relief. And with no guitar, though plenty of keyboard that sounds like extremely distorted guitar and no bass, this music hits higher in the body than most rock. The chaotic here-and-now of vintage Public Enemy is the obvious reference, along with minimalist punk."

The band writes:

"One Day As A Lion is both a warning delivered and a promise kept."

"A defiant affirmation of the possibilities that exist in the space between kick and snare. It's a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask. One Day As A Lion is a recorded interaction between Zack de la Rocha and Jon Theodore from Los Angeles, California."

"The name taken from the infamous 1970 black and white, captured by legendary Chicano photographer George Rodriguez featuring a center framed tag on a white wall in an unspecified section of Boyle Heights. It reads: 'It's better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb.' This record is a stripped down attempt to realize this sentiment in sound."