Zig Zags
“Scavenger” 7″
Mexican Summer

Fuck yeah! This single’s A-side has that abrasive, no-holds-barred, “ancient gods cause blood to flow through the streets from their perch atop the bowels of space” vibe steeped in repetition that much of “extreme” metal had between the Hawkwind/Motorhead era all the way until Metallica decided H.P. Lovecraft was cooler than Jack Kirby. The vocals are hoarse and raw, somewhere between Lemmy and Tom Araya of Slayer, and the subject matter condemns a scavenging faker (“Hey, man, what’s your sign!”) in a manner as 70s street punk as their fuzzed-out guitar, which clearly goes through a wah that they almost don’t touch throughout the song. Teases! In comparison, the mellow B-side lives up to its name, “Wastin’ My Time.” Well, it is a nice song, too, but we already had bands like Fugazi and Superchunk 20 years ago–they’ll need to do better if they want this side of their personality to compete well with the other.

-D. M. Collins