Rock Genius - AOTY #21: Gla** Animals - Zaba lyrics

Gla** Animals breezed into the alternative scene with their debut album, ZABA. It combines chill electronics with tribal African sounds and a calming groove. It's like psychedelic rock updated for this decade. ZABA is a forward-thinking bedroom record for all of your...private needs. They're a needlessly ignored band Surface-wise, Gla** Animals sounds s**y because it's carnal, but like fairy-tale fey, ZABA is a dangerous world full of monsters conspiring against the hero. Lead singer, Dave Bayley, sometimes emulates a Kaa-like menace in songs like "Walla Walla". In terms of love, Dave's either messing up, or he's being swallowed alive To solidify this atmosphere, Gla** Animals creates production native to other continents without coming off as culturally insensitive. The mastering, meanwhile, comes out a British studio. With the transitionary outros and the mini-interludes, it's a wonder how this record lasts only 45 minutes Radio single "Gooey" got people wondering what "right my little Pooh Bear" and "peanut bu*ter vibes" mean. Well, both images build the song's theme about youthful, naive love. See how gross, yet evocative it can be: Alright come close Let me show you everything I know A jungle slang Spinning round my head and I stare While my naked fool Fresh out of an icky gooey womb A woozy youth Dopes up on her silky smooth perfume Though Gla** Animals can overdo it at times, ZABA pulls off its jungle island setting; plus, the line "I'm running round your head with a bolo knife" from "Flip" is pretty cool The relationship between a man and a wrongful woman is depicted with mixed success in music. Gla** Animals avoided stumbling with a fantastical twist, as "Pools" creates its own mythology, where Dave is cast as a sirenized mortal: We sip the wind through lips of lust And out it comes, warm wisps of love I smile because I want to I smile because you want to Put the flowers in your hair Wrap your tendrils round my chest I smile because I want to I am your boy Another highlight, "Hazey", approaches the similar subject from a (more) realistic manner. You can feel Dave's pleas as he sings "don't you drain those big, blue eyes" - saying each word between breaths, and then quickly rattling off the next line. He captures the mind of a domestic victim, bridged by deceptively serene guitars. It even ends with a sound resembling quicksand If you haven't heard anything from ZABA yet, pull Gla** Animals up on Genius now - it's a safari into a hellish paradise - Chihuahua0 Come back tomorrow for album #20 and follow along with the list here!