EdTang & The Chops Goodbye, Zen5, Sushi Dinner Review: Gritty Beer-Holding Folk-Rock

New Jersey folk-rock band EdTang & the Chops are the type of band you could imagine in a small smoke-filled Jersey bar with just their instruments and some stories to tell.

Ultimately, that’s all they need.

Armed with an enigmatic frontman in EdTang, who’s quickly personified by an almost James Hettfield grit on vocals and Neil Young styled lyrics, and your ears will recognize his charisma rather quickly.

With plenty of luster from the backing band in the form of Geoffrey Meyers (guitars), Nick Bock (bass), Vic Fraternale (keyboard) and Brad Harrison (drums) and it’s obvious that their sound is something special. With only one weak song on the nine-track album, “Goodbye, Zen5, Sushi Dinner” is the type of work that will not only give the band a presence in the rock/folk scene moving forward, it’ll continue to fuel the legitimacy of the genre itself. Tracks like “Crow Till We Croak,” “Recharged” and “My Whole Life” are drenched in southern rock. The lead guitar work from Meyers, sound and steady drumbeat, with slide guitar and harmonica teases at times take you back to the days of Alabama and Allman Brothers. At times they also sound a bit like Three Doors Down and The Eagles.

But it’s Tang’s rasp that gives this band a more sultry, yet callous-filled taste. When he sings of love, you can almost feel the emotion, like a wave of hot sweat dripping from his forehead as he opens up his heart. Working man’s rock, Tang and the rest of The Chops work their tails off on every song. Even if you aren’t a fan of their work, much like a band the likes of Slim Loris or Mumford and Sons, you have to recognize the stellar musicianship tailored into every track.

But not every track is a Southern affair. Tang and the Chops can surprise you. “Beware of a Dog” is a completely different type of track. Void of folk season, it’s a real rock song with lyrics that make you immediately think of 90s rock powerhouse Toad the Wet Sprocket. The surprises continue on other tracks, such as “Just Two Old Friends” and “Pualei,” which feature a backing female vocalist. This adds to the band’s multi-faceted abilities, but it also hurts them as well.

“Pualei” is easily the weakest track on the album. Barely recognizable, it’s almost like an Edgar Allen Poe poem with music. Had Tang sung it by himself, things could have been different, but as it stands, the uncredited female vocalist lacks the power and sheer volume to make the song enjoyable. Take away a nice backing guitar lick and this song is razor thin on appeal.

Aside from the one lemon, “Goodbye, Zen5, Sushi Dinner” is the type of album that deserves radio airplay. Tang can sing, play and write and his band is just as tight. In a day where record producers make more stars than they discover, someone needs to find these guys a major record contract.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14267 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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