Face Tat

iTunes Review

Zach Hill (member of Hella and other bands) is a drumming machine, blessed with a maniacal energy and a superhuman sense of rhythm and timing. Previous solo outings have been sprawling, complicated and adventurous things, loved by many and avoided by those less hale. On Face Tat, Hill manages to rein in the effusive power and range of ideas that seem to percolate effortlessly in his head, producing a record that is well-edited, taut and solid. Hill lights a molten rage on “Memo to the Man” and “The Sacto Smile” (the song’s hilariously frightening video provides the CD cover art), paints tribal color on “Ex-Ravers” and “Gross Sales,” and slices and dices electronic flourishes on “Dizzy from the Twins.” “Total Recall” slashes and burns, but the cuts are precise and clean, with Hill’s astounding drumming glinting at the center. Guests like No Age and Devendra Banhart assist in the sonic assault. The title track is the most math-rock of the bunch, seeming almost obligatory, while the rest of the record just feels ... rocking, without any genre prefix cluttering things up.