Album Notes

Zru Vogue is a surrealist art-rock band, or an alternative post-80's neo-dada pop duo, or just Andy and Rick playing Andy's songs in Rick's bedroom that's been converted into a studio. It all depends on how you look at it. Rick and Andy (Rick Cuevas and Andrew L. Jackson, that is) have played music together on and off since they were teenagers in the mid-70's, but they achieved cult status with their 80's bands Zru Vogue ("Nakweda Dream," "Ubuhuha") and Science Patrol ("Bandit Ducks From Outer Space").

ZRU is an acronym for Zero Risk Unobtainable, something they grabbed at random from a newspaper headline way back when. But Zruism is also a state of mind, something like Dadaism or Surrealism; a way of looking at the world sideways, so that everything becomes much clearer, although somewhat askew and bent. And that's how Zru Vogue goes about writing, arranging and producing their songs. They use intuition, intention, chance, metaphor, poetry, and other important, arty, and useless things to create, construct, deconstruct, restructure, and piece together ideas from dreams and life (real and imagined) to make songs with depth, texture, and original style. If you like offbeat pop songs with intelligent, off-center lyrics, you'll like Zru Vogue.

Their influences range from John Lennon and The Beatles to Roxy Music and Sparks; from Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd to The Stranglers and Talking Heads; from Lou Reed & The Velvet Underground to The Flaming Lips and Coldplay. But ultimately, Zru Vogue is influenced by Zru Vogue. In fact, much of the new album, Beautiful Again, draws inspiration from Zru Vogue songs recorded from 1980 to 1984. But make no mistake, this new album is not just a remake of old styles; rather, it picks up where Zru Vogue left off, and incorporates contemporary influences with the classics. All that aside, it's really just an album of great songs that can be enjoyed just as much even if you've never heard Zru Vogue before.