There’s something happening on the west coast. Whether it’s in the air, the water, or the drugs, a pool of talent has formed around the notion that you can have your pop and eat it too, with brainy, prog-influenced weird-beards like Bend Sinister and arcane psycho-confectioners Mother Mother demonstrating that musical complexity can still be hummable. Commercial, even.
Throw the Zolas into the picture and dammit – you might even call it a scene! Not that it’s ever been a concern to long-term musical partners Zach Gray and Tom Dobrzanski, who established their gifts for intricate songcraft three years ago under the name Lotus Child.
Since then, the duo has finessed its formula into something even busier yet no less direct, filling their new album Tic Toc Tic with hairpin turns, schizoid tonal shifts, multiple parts, and a sort of cabaret strut.
Miraculously, between New Pornographers vet Howard Redekopp’s unfinicky production and the clarity of Gray and Dobrzanski’s vision, Tic Toc Tic works like a charm. Complex without being alienating, it aims equally and with dead-eyed precision for the head, heart, and groin.
Guitarist-vocalist Gray hits on the twin poles that define Tic Toc Tic when he reveals an equal passion for the visceral Scandinavian dream pop of Mew, whose influence is obvious, and the classic music hall rag of the Kinks, whose influence is anything but. Not on first listen, anyway, though the presence of Ray Davies is felt in Gray’s lyrics. Particularly when he turns his attention to the mundane, like the character in “You’re Too Cool” who wrestles with his vulnerability at Vancouver’s hipster HQ the Biltmore. Or the confessional “Body Ash”, which documents a relationship on the ropes. The directness of its sentiment echoes what Gray describes as Davies’ “populism”.
“The first words in ‘Body Ash’ are ‘my balls’,” he laughs. “Literally. I’m not hiding behind any metaphors.” Soundwise, Gray says he was aiming for “self-conscious Jeff Buckley”, which also goes some way towards describing a lot of the music on Tic Toc Tic.
Boxing the listener with their virtuosity right off the top, opener “You’re Too Cool” is six minutes of fortified waltz-time piano dissolving into what Gray characterizes as an “anti-chorus”. “The Great Collapse” is swaggering and deceptively sunny power-pop for apocalyptic future scenarios. “Marlaina Kamikaze” bounces between big band stickwork from drummer Ali Siadat, braying trumpet, and a decadent stride-piano breakdown.
Meanwhile, “You Better Watch Out” has Gray anguishing over a cute girl on a bus while cascading piano arpeggios and Aidan Knight’s hyperactive bass push his suffering to operatic levels of high drama. “Queen of Relax” is featherlite prog, and “Cab Driver” somehow contrives to be both the most straightforward number on Tic Toc Tic, and the most demanding. “It’s the most fun to play,” says Dobrzanski, who caps the song with a libidinous boogie-woogie throwdown sizzling enough to give “Honky Cat” era Elton a case of pianist envy. “It’s a rock-out,” he continues. “I like the athleticism involved in parts of it. It’s actually work.”
If “Cab Driver” finds the Zolas in an almost conventional mood, “I’ve Got Leeches” and album closer “Pyramid Scheme” both explore the fringes of the songwriting team’s expanding universe. Gray describes the first as “baroque” and “Bowie-esque”, while the latter, he admits perhaps a little freely, “is the track where we don’t care if anyone ever listens to it.” As such, it includes what Gray calls “a vaguely Maori, haunted house, war chant section.” Deadpans Dobrzanski, “That moment might come across as a bit out there.”
In truth, Tic Toc Tic is a little out there from bar one to its closing outburst of unbound inspiration. Perhaps it has something to do with the duo’s seasoned friendship – they met as choirboys in Grade 9 – or a working relationship that begins with Gray broadstroking ideas and passing them along to Dobrzanski, his classical musically inclined “details guy”.
Whatever alchemical thing lies beneath the sparkling progressive pop of Tic Toc Tic, the partnership has made its great leap forward. It’s our job to catch up. And we should consider it a pleasure.
CULTURED MAN
The Zolas Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
who doesn’t jump off of the bus you were riding
run as fast as his legs can go
to return the previous night’s video
then sprinting to catch up
by the next bus stop
just to impress you
just to impress you my love and sit back beside you.
I want to be your talented man
who doesn’t wake you in the morning having cooked us something strange
and when you go for supper at his folks
doesn’t burst in through the door and announce to them
you’re never gonna guess
who I brought as a guest.
Cause your blood is family too
so come to the table
your blood is family too now sit down beside us.
Pouring wine and pushing opinions
taking drags, ignoring the dishes
the worlds we unwrap off the top of our heads
you and me and my folks between dinner and bed.
When months they pour into years and more
will he still be holding car doors for you?
The Zolas's "Cultured Man" is a love song about a man who wants to be the best version of himself for the person he cares about. In the first stanza, the singer explains that he doesn't want to be the kind of guy who jumps off the bus to return a previous night's video because he's too afraid of being judged for what he rented. Instead, he wants to be the cultured man who impresses his significant other by sitting back beside her and being proud of his choices. The second stanza speaks to his desire to be talented, but not in a way that disrupts his love's routine. He wants to be the man who can cook her breakfast without leaving her disturbed or interrupting her norms when introducing her to his family.
Throughout the song, the singer expresses a desire to be the type of man who is comfortable in any situation, whether it's pouring wine and pushing opinions, ignoring the dishes, or unwrapping worlds between dinner and bed. He wants to be the man who will hold car doors for her after months turn into years and more. Overall, "Cultured Man" is about wanting to be a reliable and impressive partner who is respected by their significant other and their family.
Line by Line Meaning
I want to be your cultured man
I aspire to be a person of sophistication and refinement for you.
who doesn’t jump off of the bus you were riding
I'll wait for you and not abandon you, no matter where we go.
run as fast as his legs can go
I'll never run away or give up on you because I'll always be determined to be by your side.
to return the previous night’s video
I'll make the effort to return, retrieve and watch a video with you from the night before.
then sprinting to catch up
I'll have to move quickly to catch up to you but I'll always try my best.
Just to impress you my love
I'm willing to go the extra mile just to gain your admiration.
just to impress you
Everything I do is aimed at impressing you.
just to impress you my love and sit back beside you.
I'll impress you and simply enjoy sitting next to you as a result.
I want to be your talented man
I want to showcase my abilities, skills, and talents to you as a gesture of how much I care about you.
who doesn’t wake you in the morning having cooked us something strange
I won't disrupt your morning routine and habits by cooking or serving weird things to you.
and when you go for supper at his folks
When you join me for dinner with my family,
doesn’t burst in through the door and announce to them
I won't create any awkward situations by surprising your family with my uninvited arrival.
you’re never gonna guess who I brought as a guest.
I won't make the occasion uncomfortable by making it sound like I brought an unexpected or taboo guest.
Cause your blood is family too
You and your family are just as important to me as my own blood relatives.
so come to the table
Join us at the dinner table and take your rightful place as a member of our family.
your blood is family too now sit down beside us.
Your kin is our kin, and you are welcome to share the table with us.
Pouring wine and pushing opinions
We'll share wine and discuss our views on topics.
taking drags, ignoring the dishes
We'll have a fun time, talk and enjoy ourselves, without worrying about mundane chores.
the worlds we unwrap off the top of our heads
We'll have engaging conversations and explore interesting worldviews and perspectives.
you and me and my folks between dinner and bed.
We'll spend quality time with each other and my family from dinner time until bedtime.
When months they pour into years and more
As time passes,
will he still be holding car doors for you?
Will I still make an effort to show small gestures of love and respect towards you, no matter how long we've been together?
Contributed by Ruby V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Hailey Nelson
I want to be your cultured man
who doesn't jump off of the bus you were riding
run as fast as his legs can go
to return the previous night's video
then sprinting to catch up
by the next bus stop
Just to impress you my love
just to impress you
just to impress you my love and sit back beside you.
I want to be your talented man
who doesn't wake you in the morning having cooked us something strange
and when you go for supper at his folks
doesn't burst in through the door and announce to them
you're never gonna guess
who I brought as a guest.
Cause your blood is family too
so come to the table
your blood is family too now sit down beside us.
Pouring wine and pushing opinions
taking drags, ignoring the dishes
the worlds we unwrap off the top of our heads
you and me and my folks between dinner and bed.
When months they pour into years and more
will he still be holding car doors for you?
Jim Lahey
Criminally underrated song
Kate Bordom
Wow, its been a while since every song on an album was amazing!
Sebastian Brito
Yess
Dane333W
That breakdown with the keyboard at 2:54 is amazing. It reminds me of foreigner suite by Cat Stevens
RJ
Dane333W yeah its what drew me to this song
Jamie Jensen
+Dane333W
Oh hell ya. I almost skipped this and I'm so glad I saw your comment prior
Gigglez'n Gamin'
+Dane333W That's my favourite part of the song!
MrSegrist
This is easily in my top 10 of the last decade. Total melodic, rhythmic, and tonal ear candy.
banditroxx
I want a live version of this! They're the best live!
Siri Van Gruen
Love this song! Loved hearing at their concert last weekend!