Los Angeles April 18, 2024:
The origin of this record is a weird one. In 2019, we had just returned from two long European tours when we decided to take a “little break” from the road. You all know what happened next. That “little break” turned into a couple of years and during that time Dane, our drummer, decided to quit the band and music in general (no hard feelings).. Sean and I had a discussion and thought about ending the band as a whole, but I knew I had to go out on my own terms. I had an ace in the hole, though. Jeff Murray, drummer from LA rippers The Shrine. I had been friends with Jeff and The Shrine’s founder, Josh Landau since our “Scavenger” 7” came out, around 2012. We had run into them in Berlin a few months back and I knew they weren't playing anymore. I called Josh first, ‘cause asking a dude if you can take his drummer, is like asking your girlfriend's Dad if you can marry her. And Josh said “go for it”. And Jeff was in.

Honestly if he had said no, that would have been the end. I had written a ton of stuff since our last album but I had shelved most of it. I was trying too hard - basically. Eventually Sean, Jeff and I said, ‘Fuck it, let’s make a “Fake Live” record’ - like Kiss or Slayer did. John Dwyer from Osees was opening his new studio, Discount Mirrors and it seemed like the perfect place to record it. We settled on re-recording a bunch of old stuff while simultaneously demoing our new material, as the three of us were now starting to really get in the groove. The result is Strange Masters Vol. 1.

These are not new songs. These are Zig Zags classics re-recorded with a ripping-ass band that’s old and angry and just wants to get on with it. We are already on to recording the next album of new songs. That one is coming soon, but in the meantime, enjoy this one…while you still can!-Jed Maheu-Guitars-Vocals-Zig Zags

TRACK LISTING

1. Scavenger
2. Fallout
3. Brainded Warrior
4. Magic
5. Voices Of The Paranoid
6. Punk Fucking Metal
7. My Lighter
8. No Blade Of Grass
9. They Came For Us
10. Bloodstains

AMAZING new album from LA’s Zig Zags..honing their skills to create a fierce brew of US hardcore skate punk and UK Nwobhm ..like the first wve of US thrash from 83.. get on it!! “Everyone puts photos of Sid Vicious up on Instagram. The other night I watched ‘D.O.A’, the documentary about The Sex Pistols, first and only U.S. tour. In it - Sid's a mess, he and his annoying girlfriend. And they're the only ones who get interviewed! Maybe John Lydon and Steve Jones (not to mention the drummer) didn't want to participate. Maybe Nancy made Sid do it. But it whatever the case, I didn't wanna watch it. The rest of the band is crushing! They sound just like the record! As a musician in a touring band, I can't stand Sid Vicious.

He’s cartoon character with a Swastika shirt, nodding off while everyone else loads the gear. I don't care if it's punk - you still gotta be able to play.” - J. Maheu, lead vocals and guitar for Zig Zags 8 years, 7 singles, 3 albums, 3 bass players, 2 drummers and God knows how many shows later - Zig Zags has continually evolved, mutated, transitioned and transformed, rising again and again, like a phoenix emerging from the flame. The addition of the newest member of our triumvirate - multi-instrumentalist, designated bassist (and longtime Zig Zags sound engineer) Sean Hoffman - recalls those golden moments past, when destiny stepped in...like when Neil Peart joined Rush or Bob Rock teamed up with Metallica. In short - the circle is now complete, the cornerstone has been set and the winged serpent rises - once again. Some say it’s luck, but really, it’s about patience.

A band is like a relationship. You have to know when to push, and when to hold back. You gotta listen and you gotta learn. We look to the masters. Like Henry and Glenn, we’ve gone from drinking hooch to pumpin’ iron. We quit smoking. Two of us are married, for chrissakes! After 2017’s brutal European tour, which left us coughing blood and taking names, we sought out Lemmy’s Doctor (Feel Good), who diagnosed us with,”Rock’n’roll Pneumonia”. Like Lemmy, we were pushing too hard. And if you push too hard you’ll end up in an apartment above The Rainbow Room, playing video poker on Christmas Eve (which is also your birthday)...but that’s another story.

TRACK LISTING

01. Punk Fucking Metal
02. Killer Of Killers
03. Fallout
04. No Way Out
05. Ms 45
06. The Shout
07. Why I Carry A Knife
08. They'll Never Take Us Alive
09. Nothing To Do
10. God Sized

Los Angeles-based bonehead savants Zig Zags are no-nonsense ’80s style thrash with a magpie eye for deepfried pop culture detritus. These guys give so few fucks while they are out ripping faces that it’s tough to say much about them that hasn’t been said before—they shred so that we may raise beers in non-ironic salute to their Voivod worship, to a world in which young heshers subscribe to New Wave of British Heavy Metal and practice early Slayer solos while watching daytime TV, to waking and baking as you watch the world burn. Running Out of Red is the soundtrack to getting high and driving around in your shitty car in your small town, occasionally getting laid…occasionally getting laid out at the local liquor store by an older dude. Gang vocals: check. 1-2 pit beat: on lock. Shredder solid state guitar heroics: ripping, and so should you, the bong is packed and I think there’s still pizza in the fridge. I can smell your pants from here, dude.

TRACK LISTING

1. They Came For Us
2. No Brains No Balls
3. The Sadist
4. Total Recall
5. Lizard
6. Sin Eaters
7. Giving Up The Ghost
8. Can?t Afford The Basics
9. My Lighter
10. Meat Man
11. Afraid Of The Dark
12. Night Of The Knife