Local Albums: January 2010 – Zachary Lint Aka Coolzey has taken time off from home renovation and starring in zombie movies, to drop another CD of profound silliness. Or silly profundity–I’m not quite sure. Full disclosure: I’ve done some post production and mastering work for Zack in the past. But hey if you want someone who knows something about Iowa City music to write reviews, they’re probably going to know half the people they review somehow.
Anyhoo, given my lack of objectivity, you’ll just have to take my opinions with a grain of salt, or maybe a spoonful of honey. Oh snap, segue to “The Honey” and watch a stereoscopic Viewmaster slide show of how Coolzey rules his little patch of hip hop. Goofy easy listening intro *click* floaty strange chorus “take off all your clothes…” *click* “you coulda been valiant/mounted on a stallion/advancing on the palace/at the top of that mountain/battling batallions/of paladin assassins/mighty like a falcon dressed in medals and medallions” *click* and really the song is about appreciating the present moment. In rhyme, with jokes.
Coolzey sings a lot more on “The Honey” than he has on his past hip hop joint. “Look” is entirely sung, to a beat constructed from cut up cop show themes, sounding a bit like Beck, if Beck still had a talent for surrealism, and, y’know, gave a shit. “Let’s Flip” is a straight up party jam that proclaims “it’s time to Mop and Glow.” While I’m rooting for Coolzey to hit it big, I hope he never gets so big he has to license samples, because “Let’s Flip” would cost big bucks to clear, based on two highly recognizable bites, combined to make something close to a perfect beat.
“The Honey” is, for me, Coolzey’s most fully realized hip hop record. Partly it’s the deep craft that’s gone into his verses, partly it’s the cast of Iowa City local heroes (Ed Gray, Will Whitmore, Luther the Geek and many more) he brings in to deepen the music. But for a guy who can’t rock half a verse with without cracking wise, who makes beats by jacking the goofiest, least soulful sample he can find and making them bump, Coolzey is no joke.
