One Day as a Lion - One Day as a Lion

Rating:

* * * *

One Day As A Lion

heralds the return of Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha. While Rage reformed last year and have been touring, this five-track EP is the first significant body of new music to be released by the rapper, singer and songwriter since the band split in 2000.

Armed with just a warped and dirty sounding keyboard and his brazen vocals, de la Rocha teams up with former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore to whip up a dissonant mix of politically charged scuzz rock, noisy blues, and swaggering hip-hop.

And rather than just rap,  the boy shows he can sing too, coming off like a less whiney Perry Farrell on

Ocean View

and

Last Letter

, and a demented story teller on the title track and militant highlight,

If You Fear Dying

.

Lyrically de la Rocha is more poignant than the blatant and reactionary Rage approach coming up with lines like "I'm in with the spirit of Ali Toure as I target more heads than a priest on Ash Wednesday".

Meanwhile, Theodore is a flailing animal and rides the songs to that thrilling point where they're about to fall apart,  but never do. There's only two of them but they make a fearsome racket.

Scott Kara