ZAHARAS (Hickory, NC)
"Livin' Ain't Easy" 1977 (Vegas 9739)
This hard rock album dates to the mid-70s but sounds more modern, almost 80s. On the first few songs, two of which are slower and more deliberate than your typical hard rock/southern rock fare, the songwriting and guitar playing are surprisingly subtle for this style of music. The hooks aren't exactly original, but they're effective. When they veer towards more common boogie stylings, though, they're less interesting, and the quality of songs disspates pretty quickly after the first three. Most of the lyrics are love song drivel, unfortunately. For an album that starts so well, the end result is kind of disappointing. [AM]
"Blackbird" 1978 (Vegas) [plain cover]
The seldom seen second LP is purportedly similar but with more personal and interesting lyrics, and according to a band member deals with death and occult themes on several songs.
V.A "ZEBRA SELECTION" (IL)
"Zebra Selection" 1967 (Drocer no #) [b&w paste-on]
Mix of garage pop and soul. Produced for the local Junior Achievement chapter. The title refers to the fact that there are two white and three black groups represented. Bands are the Nightriders, the Junior Jive Kings, Johnny & the Impalas, the Cavaliers and the Knights Of Soul. [RM]
ZENITH EFFLUVEUM (Rochester, NY)
"Almost Made It In The USA" 1978 (Separate)
This new wave era psych album has the feel of unrestrained teenagers getting stoned and recording everything they've ever written in one day. It's six songs that take up 48 minutes, and the messy arrangements include clarinets, synthesizers and unidentified noise. The songs ramble (the closing 13-minute song is a suite of sorts, but doesn't exactly feel carefully structured.) The vocals are unmelodic in the mode of 70s bands like MX-80 Sound or Debris, or 90s bands like Pavement and Built To Spill. The long guitar solo on "Opie" is a definte highlight, and the wild feel of this will appeal to some. I think a producer might have helped, though, and a 35-minute album minus the entire closing song/suite would have been a more listenable record. [AM]
ZERFAS (Indianapolis, IN)
"Zerfas" 1973 (700 West LH 730710) [500p]
"Zerfas" 1994 (700 west) [several inserts; 500p]
"Zerfas" 199 (Atlas, Europe) [bootleg]
"Zerfas" 2004 (CD Radioactive 050, UK)
"Zerfas" 2004 (Radioactive 050, UK)One of the top local jobs in the 1970s epic psych-rock bag with an awesome westcoasty panorama soundscape, strong vocals and brilliant late-Beatle style songwriting. The first side is as good as the A-side on Marcus and the vaguely progressive moves on the flip talented and focused as well, with a peak in the tremendous "Piper" closing track. The album sides open with what are arguably the two weakest tracks, which may turn some listeners off, but patience will pay off most gloriously. A Midwest masterpiece with wide appeal, firmly on my personal 70s top ten. I recommend the first, legal reissue from tapes for the best trip on this outstanding "Abbey Road" out of Indy. Unfortunately 125 copies of this reissue were defective so only 375 went into circulation. The Radioactive reissues have a poor mastering job and are not recommended. [PL]
~~~
Stunning psych album can only be described as what might have happened if the Beatles had pushed the psychedelic experiments of Revolver into late 60s/early 70s territory and re-discovered their youth at the same time. An album that is so chock full of ideas, great songwriting, and clever production tricks that I discover something new on every single listen. This is an example of ambitious kids setting out to make the world's greatest record, and pretty much succeeding. Among the many things to love about this album is the lead guitar sound, the most perfect I've ever heard. An album that pretty much blows away everyone, and that rare proof that with enough time and attention a private press can match any major label recording. [AM]
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see full-length review
ZETA RETICULI see Elliot,
Walter & Bennet
LORRI ZIMMERMAN (Canada)
"Lorri Zimmerman" 1969 (Crescent City)
Zimmerman was a member of Life, but left before they recorded their album, opting instead for this solo LP. The result has been lost in space and time, missing from reference books and rare record dealers’ catalogues, and rarely mentioned by collectors or Canadian rock aficionados. Why it’s so unknown is a mystery, since it’s a completely terrific album, one of the very best 60s rock albums by a female singer. Think about all of those post-Airplane bands who jumped on the bandwagon by hiring a female singer and buying a fuzzbox. Then imagine that all of them pooled their best songs, had the good sense to let the woman sing all of them, and left out the acoustic ballads and wanky blues jams. Then they hired a producer who didn’t go overboard trying to be trendy and trippy. This is pretty much what you’d have. Zimmerman has a voice that’s alternately powerful and affecting; she’s as suited to folk-rockers like “Paint Me A Picture” as she is to tougher rock like “Bidin’ My Time.” The latter is an appropriate metaphor for her singing style, as she hits the high notes and brings on the power exactly when it’s needed most. The arrangement of these songs, and her timing as a singer, is ace. She’s not a songwriter, but the majority of these excellent songs were written by her collaborators, so there’s a feeling of consistency and comfort. Some of the guitar playing will hit the right spots for psych heads, but mostly this is just great unpretentious rock and roll without much experimentation. Needless to say, highly recommended. In the 70s, Zimmerman would join the bilingual group Toulouse. [AM]
ZINI (MO)
"Better Than A Kick In The Teeth" 197 (Cabin 38074) [500p]
"Better Than A Kick In The Teeth" 2000 (Synoptik, Europe)
"Better Than A Kick In The Teeth" 2005 (Breeder Backtrack 266, Austria)Obscure and somewhat underrated rural mullet-rock westcoasty AOR LP with good harmony vocals and a professional sound all around. Strong songwriting a la early Eagles and Poco with a Neil Young vibe on the best tracks; 2-3 wimpy tracks suck but all over a pretty good trip into 1970s Camaro cruising sounds. The excellent opening track gives a good idea about this album's strengths. Release year has been listed as both 1974, 1977 and 1980; could well be the latter. [PL]
ZIPPER (Portland, OR)
"Zipper" 1975 (Whizeagle 0001) [poster]
"Zipper" 199 (Way Back, Germany) [+2 bonus tracks]Fred Cole’s mid-70s album is as uncompromising as anything he’s done. His vocal style is especially strident on these hard rock songs, which don’t have the garage-style feel of Dead Moon or the occasional subtleties of Lollipop Shoppe. The first song is a bunch of raunchy double-entendres. Pretty twisted. There’s a kind of saminess as this album moves along, probably due to uninspired songwriting. Still, this is worth hearing. It’s unique and wild. The cover is handmade to the extreme. [AM]
ZIPPYR BAND ( )
"Early Sunday Mornin'" 1977 (Castle TZB 10177)
Midwest Allman Bros-style guitar rock with heavy moves.
ZODIACS ( )
"Breaking Out" 1965 (Space 12-1965) [no cover]
Seldom seen sleeveless teen-beat LP with guitars & piano.
ZOLDAR & CLARK ( )
"Zoldar & Clark" 1977 (Dellwood 56013)
I'm not a fanatical progressive collector so it's kind of a surprise that this rather obscure album has managed to worm its way into my heart. Propelled by a sea of synthesizers, musically the set's firmly entrenched in the progressive camp (check out the extended instrumental "Luner Progressions"), though tracks such as "Touch the Sky" and "The Ghost of Way" are surprisingly accessible. The group certainly had a knack for crafting catchy hooks and whoever handled the lead vocals had a nice and quite commercial voice. In fact with a little bit of editing, several songs would have given bands like Ambrosia, Kansas, Styx and even Yes a run for their FM radio play. Sure, it wasn't the year's most original offering, but give me these guys over Starcastle any day! Man, side two of this album seems to go by in a flash. [SB]
~~~
The second of the two Jasper Wrath albums secretly released by Guinness/Dellwood is the better and more experimental of the two. It has a similar prog/AOR sound with a very obvious Yes influence (including a few blatant thefts). It has more synth, more mellotron, and more special effects than the Arden House album, and unlike Arden House, all seven songs here sound like they were recorded in the same sessions. The album may not appeal to fans of the Jasper Wrath album, or to psych fans, but as 70s US progressive rock goes, this is one of the best albums out there. Highlights include the truly awesome “Ghost of Way”, an epic with killer mellotron and an amazing host of instruments and structural surprises. It’s the kind of creative experimentation that I think of when I call music “progressive” in a positive way. Elsewhere are unusual uses of time signatures, terrific guitar playing and complex ideas done so smoothly as to sound simple. This is a really great record. As with the Arden House album, the songs are arranged haphazardly, with side one 21 minutes and side two 12 minutes. Jasper Wrath released a non-LP single, “You/General Gunther,” in 1976 and it has the same production sound as these albums. Seeing as these albums were released without Jasper Wrath’s knowledge (and the fake names assured that Jasper Wrath wouldn’t have an easy time discovering them), it’s interesting to speculate why they had 80 minutes (including both albums and the single) of professionally produced material just sitting around gathering dust. Did they plan two albums? A double LP? [AM]
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see -> Arden House; Jasper Wrath
ZOO
(Los Angeles, CA)
"Presents Chocolate Moose" 1968 (Sunburst 7500)
"Presents Chocolate Moose" 198 (no label)
"Presents Chocolate Moose" 1993 (CD Big Beat wik-123, UK)
"Presents Chocolate Moose" 2002 (CD Radioactive 010, UK)Sunset Strip club rock with soul and r'n'b moves, solid guitarwork and some psychy tracks on side 2.
~~~
see -> Mad Dog
