Led by singer Marky Feltchtone’s insane, bug-eyed staccato count-offs at the start of every other song, Zeke became one of the best speed-punk bands of the ’90s. With a sound fueled by model glue, heroin, and plenty of Slayer and Ramones concerts, Zeke was too messy for metal, too leather-vested for hardcore. As a result, the band actually came up with something quite unique, despite the redundancy of its tempos and ripped-off Dwarves moves. In the end, though, the band was just too damn bludgeoning for widespread recognition.
Zeke is done now, and drummer Donnie Paycheck has kick-started his own label with this loaded live document. It features more than 40 songs — four tracks from their last record, four recent unreleased studio tunes, and tons of varying fidelity live spitballs, stretching from a Denver bar show in ’94 to opening for Pearl Jam in a stadium in 2001. If you’re a fan, this’ll be worth owning just to hear the Pearl Jam set — “We’re Zeke, thanks. The Wallflowers are up next” — just as the band rips into another squealing, minute-long ode to Beelzebub.
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2003.