Zac Cross Band claim their newest single is about ‘not giving a damn what the world thinks about you.’ With this being hardly the most novel of descriptions, it’s understandable that ‘Who I Am’ sounds like a pastiche, albeit with plenty of guts.
Saying a band sound like a country rock Linkin Park will send shivers down the spine. However, Zac Cross Band, self-described as ‘country in essence, rock in sound’, are doing more than writing impetuous nu-metal with a country twang (thank goodness).
As ‘Who I am’ attests, consummate musicianship abounds as intricate guitars riff away with aplomb. This is country rock with genuine bite.
Lyrics are an odd mixture of unfettered and cryptic. At once jubilant – ‘I’ve already pushed its way past ten/I just am who I am’ – then quasi-philosophical – ‘peace is something I’ve lost, please return if found’ – it’s a hotchpotch of well-intentioned esoterica.
Even as the song’s themes merge into this jumble, the vocals are confrontational in their portrayal of the song’s ‘don’t give a damn’ attitude. Beneath this, drums are pounded with seismic intent.
Zac Cross Band are evidently proud of their influences. To that extent, ‘Who I Am’ is an ebullient piece of genre-worship that pummels and cannons along. Direct and assured, it makes up for a lack of risk with an abundance of gusto.
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