Zach Tabori – Attack of the Clout Chasers
For once, we may have found ourself at a loss for words… But we’re still going to pump out about 400 of them regarding Zach Tabori’s latest offering, Attack of the Clout Chasers. This album is a wild ride – a kaleidoscopic, genre-defying, Zappa-esque grind that’s equal parts progressive experimentalism, sci-fi dystopia, and political satire. Tabori throws listeners head first into this ten-track, 40 minute concept that whirrs with chaotic energies – a meticulously-crafted opus that has a hawk-eyed glare (and eagle-taloned grasp) on today’s modern dystopic existence… And while you think Tabori might be all-Zappa-all-the-time (and we wouldn’t be surprised, seeing as how he’s a member of Dweezil Zappa’s band), he’s got an impressive pedigree, having written for pop luminaires like Téo and Jaden Smith. Are you as bamboozled as we are? It’s ok – Tabori is probably reveling in your wide-eyed stupor.
In what I can only assume is true Tabori fashion, he opens the album with the disarming “Rotten, Pt. 2.” In a vacuum, “Rotten” sticks out like a sore thumb, but it’s actually a hushed and intimate moment that eases listeners into the maelstrom that’s about to unfold. Song two, “Nann Ray” is the album’s first foray into insanity, collaging prog rock, jazz, and an overall sense of chaos into the album’s real sense of identity. Time to buckle up.
As for album highlights, we’re giving the nod for album favorite to track three, “… In a Thin White Shirt.” A lambast of toxic masculinity and the “confused libidos” of the average American male, Tabori skewers offenders with a tongue-in-cheek psychoanalysis… And although, like the rest of the album, it eschews pop songwriting for ’70s-era art rock shenanigans, it’s almost Cobain-esque in the way it addresses the elephant in the room. Squelching bass tones and rubberneck rhythms are in the forefront here, snapping your attention back and forth with a challenging, but virtuosic intensity. Runner up goes to “JFK,” the album’s proper lead single – at a fleeting 1:49, “JFK” dips into buzzsaw punk territories without sacrificing musicianship (see guitar solo as proof). He uses the limelight to challenges our perceptions of Joseph Kennedy’s questionable sympathies with a ruthless precision – not unlike his commentary on “Taliban Boogie,” a similarly-coded explosion of energy with a mid-song jazz breakdown (?). Yeah, we tried to warn you, this stuff is wild.
This album is dense with ideas, instrumentation, and ideologies, and is quite difficult to categorize without simply calling it “prog…” But that’s the beauty of a work of art like Attack of the Clout Chasers. It’s a genre-defying journey through the mind of an eclectic and adventurous musician. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the epic, 15 minute “Vanité ou la Mort;” ostensibly the album’s centerpiece, Tabori goes for broke here, crafting a “war dance” of ideas that include a face-melting solo from Dweezil Zappa himself. Just when you think your brain has been completely obliterated by the onslaught of Tabori’s songwriting, he’ll hit you with the beauty of a song like “End of the Fucking World,” or the interlude-as-a-mental-reset “Jazz to Showcase our Musicianship.” With a title like that, I was waiting for “End of the Fucking World” to be as cataclysmic as the actual apocalypse, but Tabori instead showcases his ear for melody and dynamics, opting instead to ease your anxieties with an orchestral composition. Music nerds will love the 9:4 time signature… And beyond that, the sheer beauty found here might make it the one you show your mom the next time you want to rip some art rock in the car.
Attack of the Clout Chasers is out now (May 28th, 2025). Be sure to check it out on YouTube (below), Spotify, or Apple Music.
Categorised in: Album Reviews
This post was written by Nick Sessanna