RABBY FEEBER
Disposable Zeros of Rock
Hello Records
Punk is a four-letter word. And while Rabby Feeber is certainly not confined to the punk genre, Disposable Zeros of Rock is a great piece of obscenity. The third release from Rabby, Disposable joins Justtrustus and Rabby Road to complete a triptych tribute of sorts to the diversity of punk. The layers, loops and samples of the viscous Justtrustus have been filtered down through Rabby Road into the stripped down form that comprises the material found on Zeros. While tracks like “Welcome Magnet,” “Shotput Manhole” and “Human Valley” showcase their pedigree punk lineage, other tracks like “Accident,” “Chernobyl,” “Mistake” and “Dairy Ways” reveal a deft pop sensibilty. The key elements of punk are mixed perfectly here-urgency, brevity and volatility. A mixture which in the context of the unapologetic tempo of Disposable is the musical equivalent to mixing acids and bases.
Lyrically, frontman Lawrence Tarpey is a constant.Even if it comes from a place where, “A little paranoia goes a long, long way,” he makes as good a case as any that, “this brain’s never wrong.” Relevant, witty and purposeful, his catalog of songs stretch back over two decades with bands that were consistently at the highwater mark of local talent. Disposable Zeros is a record that can only be judged by the standards that it has set for itself. Sturdy like Jethro Bodine, it’s (theoretically) on par with any like-minded or sounding contemporary. But with all the apparent distance betwixt being “local heroes” (insinuating that they are incapable of being heroes on any other level) and gaining some well-deserved national recognition, it’s no wonder that these guys might sometimes feel like disposable zeros of rock, but they’ve sure never played like them. Rabby plays Lynagh’s, Friday April 1 -Scott Armstrong
