We first introduced you to Ted Z and The Wranglers back in our Stray Plectrums feature of last April, along with their single and video ‘Afraid of Dying’. Their brand of grassroots country folk had heart and soul to it, an introspective angle that encouraged the widening of thought and the broaching a huge variety of difficult subjects. Since then they’ve been hard at work on their debut EP ‘Like A King’, a five-song collection that encompasses a richly detailed, roots-orientated soundscape, and lyrics that cover topics such as religion, love, heartbreak, deception, the rural south and more. There’s always plenty to discover when it comes to music from this group, plenty to unravel and consume – nay – indulge, buried deep within a sonic texture that draws from country, folk, blues, rock and Americana.
The concept of the band came to Ted Zakka (lead singer, guitarist, former bassist of Handsome G) in a burst of songwriting during a break from his former band. Ted called upon old friends Mike Layton (guitar, harmonica) and Professor Dan Mages (bass), and enlisted Mike Myers (drums, harmony vocals) to complete the new group. Layton now shares lead guitar duties for the Wranglers with the multi-talented musician and music teacher Rob Torres, and the newest addition — Guitar Center blues competition titleholder Jackson Leverone. Together, these players meld Southwestern romanticism, cultural awareness, and rollicking good times to get audiences dancing and leave them hungry for more.
Still, their primary function is less about getting audiences up drinking and dancing, and more about flooding the senses with an array of sounds where every note is your favorite. At least, that’s the way I see it. ‘Virginia’ is potentially their best piece of work to date, as the ache of the country’s pedal steel, the chorus of atmospheric Americana, the bluesy bend of the organ and the folky rawness of the acoustic guitar meld to an instantly classic lyric that still manages to sound altogether fresh and invigorating. They switch things up for ‘Ball And Chain’ that has more than a passing reference to the rock & roll of Elvis Presley and his peers, but also errs on the psychedelic side of mid-late ‘60s rock with the kind of gravelly, groove-ridden performance that makes songs like these really pop production-wise.
And yet, despite their proficiency at such styles, Ted Z & The Wranglers are able to expand further still on the title track, pulling out a thread of outlaw country to guide it through a moody country rock base. The Orange County, California natives continue to build upon their musical repertoire again in the amusing, clever ‘Heaven’s Rent’, painting a picture of God needing a roommate because Heaven’s rent is very high, dropping back into a far more traditional country sound with a quick pace that is reminiscent of the famous artists of their home state. What is also clear about ‘Heaven’s Rent’ is their tendency toward quintessentially real country stories, and their ability to take us beyond a single moment in time and onto an illustration. This technique is used once more in EP closer ‘Tomorrow’, a sweet California country number with blues and folk influences that just as much accompanies a drive down the open road as it describes one.
Never the imitators, always the smart incorporators, the breadth of styles represented here could easily have been awkward, but at no point is it a cause for concern. In fact, this extremely natural overlapping of influences seems to just flow, unaided, from the speakers; joined by thematic production techniques, voices and instrumentation, it comes across as a very organic writing and recording process, with a switch to another style or subgenre just a slight easing of a notch one way or another, like the moving of the levels in a recording studio.
