DON'T CONFORM, REFORM
Ziggens reinvent themselves with self-titled release
For Jon, it was when his sixth grade teacher came into the class and said there was an opportunity in the multi-purpose room. "l didn't think about music or anything, l just knew I was getting out of math." For Dickie, it was "the lonely, country-western yodeler my mom would play on the big console radio." Brad turned the family's collection of Chef Boyardee cans into the drum solo from In A Gadda da Vidda. And Bert? "I remember marching around in my parents living room-- literally marching -- to my mom's Trini Lopez Record." With such an off assortment of inaugural musical experiences, it's no wonder that once these four mothers of invention merged they'd become "the Ziggens": a high-charged energy ball ,of goofing off, oddball twang and brassy attitude.
Sprung from the Skunk Records rt(naissance of the early 90s, opening raw efforts such as Wake Up and Smell the Ziggens and Rusty Never Sleeps watched both the indie label and artists develop their dedication to bodacious blends, the latter turning punk, pop, country, surf~d sheer zaniness into Zig-AuramaTM. 1995's Chicken Out and 1996's Ignore Amos -- which introduced "Big Salty Tears," a semi- autobiographical song about swallowing hunks of emotion with fast food, later made famous by Brad Nowell on a posthumous acoustic album -- perfected the strange birds trademark calls, garnering increased college airplay and giving them an easy guilt-trip sales item to hawk onstage to an ever-growing fanbase. In 1998, Skunk offshoot Cornerstone R.A.S. (Recording Arts Society) took over on the tunes side, pumping out Pomona Lisa, a studio masterpiece produced by the Cars' Elliot Easton and driven by set favorites for the droves of Ziggens converts following their impressively tighter and more entertaining live shows, which finally found justice in the 2000 release, Live: Tickets Still Available Enhanced CD. And now, in the light of new millennium, it's time to add another musical memory to the incredibly long, devoted, never- say-die -- and never-say-diet - list of achievements.
Introducing The Ziggens. This self-titled seventh release offers everything the band's always stood for: both pepped-up, percussive punk tunes and tender, country ballads; 'big bottom-end bass runs; nagging, nursery rhyme guitar riffs teased by crazy playground choruses; and hooks that hog your brain waves faster than Oprah on a box of Krispy Kremes. Bookended by polished, pop heartbreakers of "Debutante" and "Beat to Pieces," The Ziggens runs the full range of musical style and emotion, from soul-seeking angst to celebration. Still, the most popular item on their latest list of inner needs is the spiritual quest for Truth. While previous efforts have touched upon the touchy subject of salvation, subtle hints have made the band's religious taste one of many different flavors. On The Ziggens, it's the special of the day, with direct references rising up on six of the 14 tracks. "It's always been a prevalent theme for me," explains Bert, who's responsible for most of the songs, "but the older I get the more that's what's on my mind, so when I sit down to write that's what comes out."
But leave it to the Ziggens to keep worship fun and never preachy, as best seen in "Temptation," a punk rock parable that sounds more like the Church of Joey Ramone than Jesus Christ. And with the help of producer Eddie Ashworth ~- whose previous credits cover Sublime, Long Beach Dub Allstars and Pennywise -- the surrounding tracks are further testimonial to the founding rocks of their sometimes~ rocking, sometimes-not-so-rocking approach, including: "Rincon," a true-to-tides-and-weather-temps surf ballad that cements their title as "the only modern surf band to not come off like a Ventures xerox" "I Am Gonna Miss You," a romantic ode to married life on the road, embraced by a bevy of soft, sentimental hugs like "Pistol Pete" and" Not So Much"; entirely instrumental insight. on "'I Fought the Lawn"; and, of course, regular doses of comic relief, from the half-assed humor hoedown of "plastic Surgery," to the proven pop punchlines of "Just the Way You Aren't," "I Get Yelled at a Lot," and the hilarious "Man With the Pushed In Face."
So what's different about the album? Well, It depends on whom you ask. Says Jon, "We've gotten ridden of a lot of the wrong notes -- and we look older in the pictures." Dickie aptly notes that "it's not out yet" And Brad fires back, "I have a 28 pound cat named Forrest?!" Clearly if you want an answer about songwriting, you must go back to the source:
"I would say the biggest difference is that we had more time, we weren't as rushed," figures Bert. "But other than that it's pretty much the way we've always done it. The other fellas are nice enough to let me write what I want. Brad throws on a song or two. and we always have to coax Dickie into doing one gem--and there you got a Ziggen record."
And what about the mellower approach?
"I try not to worry about it too much. When I sit down, that's just the way they come out. And once again, we aren't getting any younger now [laughs], so a little of that kind of weased its way in."
Don't worry, kids, despite a more adult tone -- not that kind of adult, you pervert -- the band that made their name on goofy faces and gags between tunes aren't about to grow upon us now. But while the mainstream world goes stale by the second, even after 15 years, The Ziggens simply reinvent those musical eurekas that inspired them, resulting in a collection of new favorites that is both familiar feeling and better developed (kind of like hooking up with your old high school sweetheart).
"'"
Because good bands don't rehash -- they reform.
**Written by Matt Walker, senior editor of Surfing Magazine in San Clemente, CA. Matt is a Virgo, loves to swim the breast stroke and often sunbathes by himself with his shirt on back-wards.
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