ZECHS MARQUISE

Zechs Marquise = The Mars Volta + Cougar + RJD2

You will one day—perhaps, in your dreams—see the most badass, most ballingest, stylish, hardcore, potent piece of gangster movie ever sucked through someone’s eyeballs, and then as the credits roll, under “Soundtrack,” you will see the name Zechs Marquise. Though it’s not the warrior from Gundam Wing, but rather a reference to him, the appreciation for the dramatic is the same here, and the swagger is tripled. These guys make lounge rock for tweakers or post-rock for kids who wear trenchcoats. If you’re sufficiently lost in its conceit, you can almost believe it is the hip hop that the name Getting Paid implies, produced by someone with an eye for lush timbre and old-school R&B production—maybe RJD2? The comparison with the Mars Volta is the closest, but instead of freakouts that leave you a little lost, these grooves have an attention span that isn’t so much shorter than yours; plus, you can dance to it. Fierce drums and heavy bass form a rhythm section that allows keys, elaborate guitar escapades, and the occasional haunting vocals to do their psychedelic but ultimately pleasantly hooky thing with abandon. Think 70s funk mixed with future rock and genius-level virtuosity. I’ll be on the lookout for these guys playing live, because with an album name like Getting Paid, you know they have to break a sweat.

–Rio Connelly