Call me a cynic, but I always view songs that bear political messages with, erm, an air of cynicism. But while this five track EP from Glasgow’s supreme Punk Kings, The Zips delivers a stark anti-war message, it differs in that it doesn’t seek to ‘preach.’ And so what if it sounds in places that it is missing something … this is The Zips for God’s sake and as such can do little wrong in this reviewer’s book!
But yeah, it does lack a bit of musical depth in places. The brief introduction sounds like the recording of an anti-war rally / march, before ‘Stop The War’ kicks in. It certainly has a catchy, chanted chorus and the vocals are in general are from the Joe Strummer school of singing.
Likewise, ‘Angerland’ sounds a little like latter-day Clash, though with a more updated guitar line running through. It’s a great little track for sure, but rather ironically it doesn’t sound too ‘angry’ and could benefit from a bit more venom in the delivery.
‘Not In My Name’ is a modern punk anthem! The chorus again hooks in the listener and though it sounds like it was recorded in a large bathroom with the vocals and instruments sounding a little distant, it exhibits a bit of the power and direction missing on the previous song. Emphatic drumming and nice little guitar solos go towards making the best of the tracks on the EP.
Closer, ‘Helmand’ combines a ‘marching-drum’ snare sound with a really most ‘un-punk’ sounding guitar, though weirdly it still retains a sort of ‘Sandanista’ era Clash sound.
Maybe not quite you’d expect from The Zips, but everyone needs to embrace Change these days, so fair dos.
I like it! This is most definitely worth a listen – and not just by punks.
Hi Itm (Colin),
apologies for the late acknowledgement of an excellent review. looking at the date, it was the day after that version of The Zips split, leaving Phil Volume and I, as the sole survivors of the original line-up. now, some 20 months later, with new members, Fred-X (lead guitar) and Jimi (drums), we are about to release our second album, 19 Forevva, on good ol’ Tenement Toons. I’ll send a copy for possible review, when available, but we have a limited-edition, the Early Release ep, featuring 4 tracks from it, that I can pop in the post, as a heads-up.
all the comments about lack of “anger” and “distant guitars and vocals” are all totally justified. the recording sessions were a little fraught, since there had been much talk of the impending split, and I was so keen to get the songs out, I definitely took my eye off the ball when it came to mixing, and the mastering was practically non-existant. however, the songs deserved better treatment, and so, Stop The War, Angerland and re-titled (Straight To) Helmand have all been re-recorded and appear on the new album. a fairly, rip-roaring version of the remaining track, Not In Our Name, had already appeared on the Whodunnit ep. so, we reckoned that was sufficient.
anyway, hopefully Colin will find the new versions have lost none of the good points he mentioned, whilst the shortcomings have been remedied.
take care,
jonzip