Fall Crash Infect: Or how to trade drumsticks for a mic

The best job in a band has got to be the drummer’s.  You’re out there,  just pounding the hell out of  your drumkit.  Occasionally, you twirl one of the sticks around your hand. And there’s absolutely no pressure to get the crowd on its feet.  That’s pretty cool.

But that’s the thing.  You can sink into the background, drop dead, and no one will ever notice. Everybody’s just too busy watching the vocalist scream his head off. Or bite the head off a bat.

That’s probably why guys like Dave Grohl who used to play drums for Nirvana now fronts for Foo Fighters. And why legends like Pepe Smith formerly of the Juan dela Cruz band does vocal chores when he performs now. And why somebody like Raymund Marasigan—I hear he used to be with a really popular band—sings for every other act  in town today.

Zach Lucero is the latest addition to that fine list of musicians—drummer for Imago by day, vocalist for, well, his own band, by night.

His debut album, as the man on the mic (and guitar), is  Fall Crash Infect.  It’s a rock cd but it’s got this whole easy vibe around it—-even when some tunes speak of love lost—and there are several of these. You won’t exactly headbang but you might catch yourself bopping your head to it.  Remember the 90s band, Moonpools and Caterpillars?  I did when I listened to Fall Crash… It could be the way the songs were arranged. And the fact that  some female vocalists share the mic with Zach on many tracks.

In fact , Zach does pay tribute to the 90s with his first song, “Bob.”

Ey there,  remember me its Bob

Nine Inch Nails Trent Reznor Spacehog

12 years passed since the day you called

When I heard your voice I wanted so much more…

Kris Gorra-Dancel of Cambio, Fatal Posporos, Duster sings with Zach here.

An artist always leaves a piece of himself on the table and exposes it for the rest of the world to see. In this album, you see pieces of Zach all over the place .The title track, “Fall Crash Infect” is no exception. This time, Marie Jamora of Boldstar, does vocal duties with him.

We’re blind with binds

It’s the mystery that rhymes

The story goes our path collide

And in the end you’re someone else’s bride…

But the most interesting track has got to be his ode to the all-too-ubiquitous Facebook. Called Superpoke, he collaborates with Lourd de Veyra of Radioactive Sago Project fame. De Veyra jams with his patented spoken word performance while Zach and Ene Lagunzad (of  The Ronnies) sing away in the background. The song, well, pokes fun at our online lives and how ridiculously they sometimes overtake our real, flesh-and-blood existence.

This is your life…

friends…half friends

I tag therefore I am…

I am tagged therefore I exist

This is your life…

Overall, Zach’s debut in front of the band is a fun, welcome experience, both for you and most likely, for him as well. Sure, he’s got some sad songs but hey, in his alternate universe as a band frontman, everything’s fine.

 Even if everyone throws the sheep around.

 

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