Hey kids, we’re pretty pumped here at ZB Magazine!! Zigman Bird have
recorded a few cover tunes to toss out at their gigs!! ZB play their
personal classic rock favorites. Aerosmith, STP, Bowie…Come see them
live and get this CD. Recorded at Fish on Fire Studios by Tony Kroposky
it contains 5 songs that Zigman do currently in their live sets. Here is a taste off the ep.

Hang On to Yourself

Time for the 80′s best band vote! Woopee! This is the second of our “Best Band by Decade” series. The 80′s was sure an interesting time in music, right? Many people seem to make fun of it and hate on it. This may have something to do with all the metal poser hair bands at the time. I happen to enjoy a few of them. But the eighties appeared to be the decade with the most varied forms of rock/popular music. You had everything from the SST punk/experimental side of Sonic Youth and Husker Du to Sub Pop’s Nirvana and Soundgarden grunge to the ethereal 4AD stable with Cocteau Twins and the Pixes to the diverse IRS with REM and Wall of Voodoo i.e. Not to mention all the hits on the radio. You had acts as diverse as Culture Club, Men at Work, Gary Numan, the Knack, the Pretenders et. Those are far more original acts than that of today at least. Nowadays, popular radio doesn’t hold a candle to the 80′s.

This is the first of our “Best Band by Decade” series. We’ll start with the 70′s. I don’t want to go any older and besides it’s a fact the best band of the 60′s was the Beatles. Hehe.

You may have already heard that Malcom McLaren from Sex Pistols fame has died of cancer at age 64, since it’s been on top news for sites such as CNN and the NY Times. Many feel if it were not for McLaren, the Pistols would not have gained such notoriety. I’m sure John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, does not feel that way, judging from interviews and John’s excellent autobiography “No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs”. He spent the last few decades feuding with McLaren over copyright and royalties. But turns out they recently mended and Johnny said some nice things about Malcom after he passed: “Above all, he was an entertainer”. While the vision for the Pistols came from both these men, McLaren planted the seed of originality, anti-establishment. He cared little about how they played musically. When Lydon first tried out for the Pistols, he sang a horrifying cover of Alice Cooper’s “Eighteen”. But McLaren thought there was something unique in John that was not so much musical, but more style and approach. McLaren used the Pistols as a vehicle to carry out his artistic vision, tired of the rock dinosaurs of the day. He joined together four local musicians through his boutique clothing store, Sex, where the band frequented. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Sid Vicious persona, aka John Richie. The more outrageous, the better, seemed to be Malcom’s approach. He had a flair for the intangibles of a music act and his influence is far reaching, even today.

This is a tune that Zigman Bird initially recorded for their album, Balls Marie. From my recollection, it’s an older Keith Beck track that had been one of the last learned by the band before they started recording the album. They barely had it down so they weren’t certain about whether they had it to their liking. They decided to leave it off of a recording, for now at least. Listening back, it’s a fun strange track. Hope you enjoy.

Ice Cream

Suicide has always been one of my favorites. They’re sort of a cult phenomena from the late 70′s. Just two guys, a keyboard or two, a drum machine, and some drug induced ramblings from a guy that seems possessed. I want what he’s on, lol! But its not just great for the above per se. It’s great because it’s bones bare minimalist approach and looping early industrial sounding keyboards keep you mesmerized. It’s great because singer Alan Vega conveys a person on the absolute edge of mad emotion and strange energy through his wild screams. This is stuff best played loud. Here is their classic “Ghost Rider”.

History about this classic synthpunk: Suicide Wikipedia page

Well another year, another Dogs. It was a great night at Buddie’s Tavern, the place was packed, and people were feelin’ good. There was a local public television station present and they did interviews with many musicians playing that night. Bird’s Keith and Geoff were interviewed. The performances were broadcast on 3 television sets above the bar almost live! I only say that bc there was a brief second or two lag. But wow, little Buddies is embracing technology, going hi-fi.

Zigman Bird did three covers and an original. David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream”, The Kinks “Victoria”, and Police’s “It’s Alright for You”. The original was a Keith Beck standard, “Compromise”.

The bands played for charity, which is great bc there are so many people in need these days. We humans need to stick together. Special thanks to Buddie’s and everyone participating for the 23rd annual Dogs of War. 23rd? Yeah, I was told 23rd, and that’s lot of history.

Here’s a full listing of bands from the event:

The Molecular Blues Machine, Mad Lees Union, Bullet Train, The Marbles, Goyum Bongo Volante, The F Bombs, Brian and the Shadowroaders, Elvis, Big Daddy and the Death Machine, Rachel and the Lost Boys, Thomas Martin, Van Cleef, Zigman Bird, Schnitzel, Joe Canzano, The Beards, The Dead Pony Cats

Long time indie heroes Burning Up White returned for their first show in what seemed like ten years to me. But after speaking with lead singer Maryanne Wilson after the show I learned it had only been about five. They just have been out there intermittently, are extremely busy, and have other music projects going as well. On to the show. It was a triumphant return for the 3 piece…wait 4 piece now! They added a bass player named Rob, and Maryanne who had played bass previously, switched over to a guitar. They sounded like they had never been away. One would expect a little rust but little was found. Breaking out mostly new material, they rocked little Buddie’s Tavern with their off kiltered spacy hooks and moody vocal musings. Some of the highlights were “Sharks”, which i believe is one of their older staples. They also breathed some new life into the Pixies classic “Gigantic”. Nice to have BUW back.

Included here are those tracks. Check them out:

Sharks

Gigantic (Pixies cover)

The Strokes haven’t been around in a while, but thanks to Albert Hammond and now Julian Casablancas we have some new recordings to hold us over. After a few listens of Julian’s new “Phrazes for the Young” the adjectives “quirky fun” come to mind. I am not sure if that would be a good thing if i hadn’t heard the album first. Like Albert’s albums, it is more varied than a Strokes record and relys on more instrumentation and experimental sounds. But there is a weirdness to Julian’s effort. It’s loaded with the usual guitar layers found on the Strokes (thank goodness) but also 80′s new wave keyboards, drum samples/machines, and strange parts within the songs that go somewhere unexpectedly. Oh and it’s catchy. Just when you think you’ve heard that hook before, it wanders off somewhere again. I like this album and it sounds like he had fun in the studio making it.