Zebrahead / Man With Mission – “Out Of Control” [Split EP] [Album Review]

I had to recheck what I was listening to when I got an earful of the title track of this Split EP featuring tracks from Zebrahead and Japanese punks Man With Mission as, getting a blast of Papa Roach-esque nu-rock wasn’t quite what I expected from the U.S. goofballs. Still, it’s certainly as catchy as a dose of the clap and a million times more fun. The second of their three tracks, “Lockjaw”, is more of the same high energy punk-tinged nu-rock, hip-hop/rapped vocals and a melody that, like every good pop-punk song, sinks itself into your head within about 5 seconds of you hearing it.

“Higher” and “Database”, the two tracks from Japanese dance-pop-punk outfit tread similar waters to that occupied by bands like Simple Plan. As with the Zebrahead tracks, Man With A Mission dish up a sound full of infectiously poppy beats and hooks but, having been churning out this kind of thing for almost five years now, it’s no wonder that the band have got this catchy dance-pop/rock crossover thing down to a fine art.

So, running at just over seventeen minutes, it’s hard to describe Out Of Control as essential listening. It is however easy to describe it as the kind of record you’ll put on and be grinning from ear to ear by the end of it.

Track Listing:

Zebrahead
01. Out Of Control (feat. Man With A Mission)
02. Lockjaw
03. Consider This My Resignation

Man With A Mission
04. Higher
05. Database (feat. Ali/Zebrahead)

Run Time: 17:38
Release Date: August 24, 2015

Check out the song “Out of Control” here.