Gothic Theatre
Full Scale
EZEKIEL OX—vocals
JIMMY TEE—guitar
ROBKAAY—bass
CRUTEY—drums
Every once in a long while, a band comes along that allows us to reaffirm our faith in a higher musical power. There was Faith No More in the late ‘80s, Tool and Korn in the early-’90s, and System Of A Down a few years later. Now, prepared to take their place amidst those that have reinvented the genre before them, we have Full Scale, a revolutionarily-uptight outfit from Australia that have left Down Under to give America a much-needed working over.
“There’s a flag flying upside-down on Sunset Blvd., and I take that as a really clear sign,” says Ezekiel “Zeke” Ox, the radically overwhelming frontman of Full Scale. While a flag flying upside-down may not mean much to the hundreds of thousands of tourists that pass by its Hollywood, CA, street, to the outspoken Aussie, it’s a call to arms, and an affirmation that four years of focused vision and precision songcrafting have finally come to fruition. “An upside-down flag is a sign that help is needed from the outside,” he continues, barely taking a breath, “There are two sides in this country, and they actually act to divide the people that they need to unite. ‘United We Stand’? Bullshit! It’s red verses blue, and now is the time to try harder to unify, mobilize and organize the working classes of this country.”
Make no mistake, the members of Full Scale are musicians, not politicians, and their pulpit is a stage, not a podium. Especially in Los Angeles, Full Scale’s new base of operations, that upside-down flag could just as easily be a cry for help from the music industry as it is a political statement. Either way, the Aussie quartet are here to answer the call. “We’re bringing something completely different to the table,” says guitarist Jimmy Tee. “We don’t sound like any of the bands we’ve seen on the scene lately, and that’s why we were brought here. I don’t see how we can be restrained.”
Experience Full Scale, and any semblance of restraint is unequivocally shattered. The tracks that constitute the quartet’s self-titled debut are more than songs, they’re mission statements. Shell casings rattle the cage of opening track “Empty Texas” (“If this was Texas then I’d have a gun and he’d get some…”), Tool-esque dimensions adorn the epic “16 Today” (penned from the perspective of a teenage refugee held captive by the country they hoped to escape to), a bombastic, Rage Against The Machine-bred, backbeat bitch-slap shakes “Party Political” (“Are you scared yet? Will you take this?”), “The Heimlich Manoeuvre” delivers a sexually-driven assault, battery and discharge, and a swirling, ethereal epicenter of groove-laden fists of rage fuel “The Sickness” (“So raise your voice up high, and scream your war cry, say ’I’m too young to die,’ for this rich man’s lie”). The thoughts are as revolutionary as the music. And the message is as powerful as the band that delivers it.
“Some of the songs are definitely angry, but there’s a wide spectrum of emotions on the album, and the themes running through them all lead to a single path affecting positive change,” says drummer Crutey. “The beautiful part of this revolution is, it’s a global struggle. The lessons we draw are international,” Zeke continues. “Capitalism is destroying the world the same way in Australia, as it is in America. The lessons we learn locally are the same shit, with a different smell. At the moment, our complication is how to communicate with people. We’re not out here to offend, and we’re not out here to piss people off. It’s not about telling people that they’re fuckwits for voting a certain way, it’s about convincing them that they’ve been fooled by a whole ruling system.” Adds bassist Robkaay, “There’s only an illusion of choice in the world.”
But with the release of Full Scale, the freedom of choice again returns to the true ruling class. We, the people. One of the most rabidly infectious debuts of the new millennium, the album rattles the senses with a curious familiarity unheard of in a musical era overrun by cloned sounds and unsatisfying live shows. Full Scale are as unsettling as they are invigorating, and as radically adhesive as they are fundamentally confrontational. The true genius of Full Scale isn’t a single song, influence or style, it’s the masterful savvy that marries the music to the lyrics, the sound to the vision, and the results to the listener.
Spawned in late 2000 in Perth, Australia, Full Scale had their sights set on America from day one, and every move they made was a means to that end. Jimmy Tee, Robkaay and Crutey are Perth natives, and Zeke was there studying musical theater when he responded to the guitarist’s ad looking for a singer. The rhythm section joined soon after, and the band’s first move was driving 4,500 miles across their homeland and relocating in Melbourne, the nation’s musical hotbed. The chemistry was immediate, and they toured nonstop, recording two self-funded EPs and releasing them on their own record label, Popstar Records. The EPs became the foundation for their Columbia Records debut, and they mastered their craft on the road, opening nationwide tours for acts as widespread as Evanescence and Sevendust while fine-tuning their live show into one of the most engrossing experiences in modern rock. When a business associate sent their EPs to producer Jay Baumgardner [Helmet, Papa Roach, Sevendust], he was so impressed by the band’s raw, visceral energy, that he agreed to produce their album for free, then shop the band to American labels. The rest, is history in the making.
“The isolation of Australia breeds a really healthy contempt,” says the frontman. “We were convinced that we were going to do well, and we were convinced that we had the ability to take it to the next level. But there is always that little nagging in the back of your mind, especially being in Australia that we may never get discovered. This a very exciting time in the band’s history, because we’re kicking down the door to something that we’ve always wanted to achieve. But, there’s also a really healthy twist in our stomach knowing that we’re that close to reaching that many people and affecting a positive social change in the world. We’re like a wound spring that can’t wait to explode.”
Full Scale don’t follow the rules, they rewrite them, and the results are nothing short of revolutionary. Everything you know about music is wrong. “Regime change is a state of mind.” Let the re-education begin.
ÑPaul Gargano, 2/05
