Historical Article 12/19/2012
zZz is a band from Japan; its kind of ambiguous whether they moved to Brooklyn or are on an extended tour… Not sure… but they are great regardless. ZZZ is an all girl noise-rock band. The album is full of amazing rhythms, basslines, and guitars tones that will blow both your knee caps off and melt your face.
I was lucky enough to play with these fine ladies at Death by Audio, Williamsberg BK, in Nov, which is how I found out about them. Live,they are great; on record, they are great. I don’t think I can really give any complaints about the album. Their image is weird though… they are attempting to give a ‘gothic’ look to themselves. Something along the lines of Switchblade symphony (bleh) meets Bauhaus. But nevertheless, their songs are contrary to their image and are quite amazing. They are reminiscent of The Liars and the Magic Marker.
“Prescription” Begins with a Liars-esque, catchy noise verse which feels like it comes straight out of Beetle juice. Quickly, they turn the entire song over, flipping it on to it’s head. Half-timing their tempo and creating a droney soundscape that seeps itself into your bones. This is the case with the other songs as well. Though, each song has a distinct feel to it. But that grinding, droney, soundscape is a continuous thread that holds the album together. At times they even sound like Killing Joke (check out “Cut it Out”). “Cut it Out” switches from killing joke to something reminding one of some sort of degenerate surf-song.
For the most part their vocals, yeah I know this is a classic comparison, remind one of Kim Gordon or Lydia Lunch. Abrasive screams, distorted, and quirky with creepy whispering interwoven throughout. Lyrically… well, I’m not going to get into that. To me, they are more ornamental than exceptional.
I have to say that their time shifts and odd, almost random chord changes make the album quite unique; you have to listen to carefully.
If you see them around in your town, go see these girls; or buy their album. Either way, I think these gals are going to be big. Real big.
Their album is a bit hard to find but I’m sure, if you search hard enough, you’ll find it.
To get you started their website is: http://zzzs-jpn.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/zzzs.official