Maximum Ink Music Magazine
Milwaukee Sludge - March 2006
IROCK Z. Sounds like a car, hey? Well so does the band... A really fuck'n fast car. They boast a traditional three-piece approach with an emphasis on blistering lead guitar solos that don't over-indulge. The rhythm section holds tight at speeds that verge on break-neck, with a surprising amount of melody and vocal quality usually not found in bands this aggressive. Imagine Hank Williams on meth-amphetamine with Henry Rollins giving musical direction and you're halfway there. The boys consider themselves to be quite insane and under their own plan of self medication, so catch them Mar. 19 at the Artists United Against Imperialism Benefit.
OnMilwaukee.com
IROCK Z Motors Along - Interview/Gig Preview 02/10/06
With a brand of sledgehammer rock that can enthrall and frighten, Irock Z is what Milwaukee music should be about: dirty, blistering, and unapologetic......
- Mike Sandler
The Shepard Express
Local Music/Critic’s Choice 11/03/05:
Over the last year, IROCK Z has become known for intense music that pays homage to the age-old blistering guitar solo. In the fashion of Motor City bands such as MC5, IZ lays down a groove that is hard, steady and fast. Influences that range from the Stones to the Misfits have helped this band develop an innovative style. Check out IROCK Z Friday, Nov. 4, with Rejection Fetish and headliner Agent Orange at Vnuk’s.
- Brian Barney
Wolfprint - The Student Newspaper of Cardinal Strich University
Arts and Entertainment Article, Dec. 2005: Nine Questions with IROCK Z
Good old fashioned rawk is hard to find these days. Look no further than IROCK Z. Thick like the MC5 and sly like Iggy and the Stooges, IROCK Z has been pillaging the Milwaukee music scene for almost two years. Bassist and voice Trans Am Dan, drummer Russell Danger Zone, and guitarist Lodi Capri can tear it up like an old muscle car.
With cuts like “Size Six Sarah” and “I Shake, U Shake,” IROCK Z shows off their no-frills attitude. There is not a lot of production on the songs, so it sounds as if the band plugged in and pressed “record.” IROCK Z is like a time machine to the late 60s, when rock music was not so thought out.
Currently working on a new EP, Wolfprint caught up with the guys.
1. Is “Size Six Sarah” about anyone in particular?
(Dan) Well, the title you could say is taken from a woman whom I met while working at the door of the Nomad World Pub on Brady. Sarah,…she wore a size 6…that’s about all I got. Every time I saw her, she was with a different guy. The song is actually about all those girls we love that wear their T-shirts a size or two too small.
2. What bands do you listen to now? When you were in high school?
(Lodi) Now: Radio Birdman, Flaming Lips, Wilco, Led Zeppelin. In high school: The Grateful Dead, exclusively. (Sighs from Dan after hearing the Grateful Dead comment)
(Dan) Now: Radio Birdman, Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, The Hellacopters, Black Sabbath, I don’t know…a ton. In High School it was mostly punk. None of that poppy garbage though, mostly late 70s/early 80s stuff…and Zeppelin.
(Russ) Well, what’s currently in my car is, the Foo Fighters, The Mars Volta, Kings X, and Led Zep. In high school I was influenced by the whole early 90s Seattle sound.
3. What are your future plans, musically?
(Dan) It’s nice to romanticize and everything but we know where we live. Geographically and socio-economically the odds are not in our favor to hit the “big time” or anything. We’ll just keep making the music we like to play and see what the future holds. I don’t like to plan things generally. You never know what tomorrow is going to hit you with.
4. This one is to Lodi Capri: Russell Danger Zone vs. Trans Am Dan in a knock-down, drag out brawl. Who is your money on? Why?
(Lodi) My money’s on Russell…to run away and hide.
5. What are some of your favorite venues to play, and why? They can be anywhere.
(Russ) Vnuk’s cause the sound has the potential to be great, Points East cause we’re treated well there, and Dan’s basement cause that’s where the song-writing-magic happens.
6. Who would you rather open for, Led Zep or Jessica Simpson?
(IROCK Z nearly simultaneously) Jessica who?
7. How did you pick Irock Z as a name?
(Dan) In short, Lodi was driving a beat-down Trans Am at the time. Pretty funny to Russ and I cause the dude has two Ivy League degrees. I think he just loved the hesh-factor. I drove a Camaro back in high school (I actually was pretty hesh) and got coined as “Trans Am Dan” back in those days. (I guess Camaro doesn’t rhyme with Dan?) So, we’re all laughing about this stuff at rehearsal one day and Russell stood up and shouted, “I’ve got it! We’ll call it IROC-Z!” So we added a “K” for “rock”, and to avoid any General Motors trademark issues, and the rest is history.
8. What is the best song you guys have written?
(Dan) I think we’d all agree that Getting Looks is one of the better songs we’ve written thus far. Lodi wrote the riffs, I wrote the words, and Russell gets to play the role he was meant to play: John Bonham Jr. It will be on the 6-song EP that should be finished real soon.
9. Why should anyone come see you?
(Russell) Our energy is as genuine as our sound and we put heart and musicianship into all of our performances. Oh, and I rip off my shirt during drum solos!
Visit www.irockz.com for more info.
The Onion (in print)
Local and Live Pabst Blue Ribbon Ad
Volume 41, Issue 30: July 28, 2005
