Zig Zags

Zig Zags

Strange Masters

Riding Easy

“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 [Hoffman] 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-inch 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...

Zig Zags

They’ll Never Take Us Alive

Riding Easy

“Eight years, seven singles, three albums, three bass players, two 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.  “This album, our first with Riding Easy, was written over the last year. It’s reveals our longtime roots, our enduring love (all hail!) to the early punk of our hero(ines)...

Zig Zags

Ripping Death

Famous Class

***Look out! Los Angeles punk cretins ZIG ZAGS are back on wax. In true Zig Zags fashion, we've got all bases here covered. On the A-side, “Ripping Death” explores the horrors of everyday life in a war torn world. Blasting at 'Kill ‘em All' speed, this track doesn't let up until your nails are stuck in the desk and your boss sends you home out of pity. On the flip, “Riddle of Steel” extols the virtues of the John Milius classic “Conan The Barbarian." This one moves at a Medieval gallop, and features the first ever appearance on any ZZ recordings of the ancient instrument, "the lute". Hold tight cause the songs have gotten faster, meaner, leaner and angrier—a reflection of our societal whole barreling toward a stinging sun, that burns hot with anger and defeat... (STREET DATE - 2/24/2017)

Zig Zags

Running Out Of Red

Castle Face

Los Angeles-based bonehead savants Zig Zags are no-nonsense ’80s style thrash with a magpie eye for deep-fried 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 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.

Zig Zags

Running Out of Red

Famous Class

***NOW AVAILABLE ON CASSETTE!!! Los Angeles-based bonehead savants Zig Zags are no-nonsense ’80s style thrash with a magpie eye for deep-fried 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 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. (STREET DATE - 5/20/2016)

Zig Zags

Slime

Famous Class

***Los Angeles scuzz punks ZIG ZAGS are back in action! Famous Class Records releases 4 songs bursting with more metal, punk, hardcore, pop and 7 Seconds covers, than your human mind can handle. Beware of Cronenberg-style head explosions! Opening track, “Gröth” kicks things off with fuzzed-out bass over hardcore riffing. Next comes “Slime” which sounds like early Metallica fighting off a gang of Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers! The B-side finds Zig Zags veering into classic pop/punk territory with the irresistible, “Sunken City,” an ode to San Pedro and their heroes in The Minutemen. And finally—the worship culminates in a cover of the 7 Seconds track “We’re Gonna Fight”—this one recorded alive and on the airwaves. So turn up the stereo… and flip the fuck out! (STREET DATE 8/11/2015) Zig Zags started in a room lit by a single green light, going on to record a song with Iggy Pop and an album with Ty Segall, from playing house parties for pizza to staring off the stage at the Fillmore West. Theirs is the nightmare of the insane and the all-too-normal, the Bermuda Triangle between sci-fi and lo-fi and no-budget, the Twilight Zone twist ending where it turns out everyone ELSE was an alien the whole time. When Cliff Burton wore that Misfits shirt? Zig Zags. When the Emergency Broadcast System interrupts that John Carpenter movie? Zig Zags. When a soggy pile of Thrasher mags and Jack Kirby comics spill out of a dumpster behind the Sunday School? Zig Zags. When...

Zig Zags

S/t

In The Red

In the year 2014, in the ruins of the city once known as Los Angeles, three underworld dwellers with one job, one hot tub and one unkillable riff between them knew they had to make a ripping record—or die trying. This is their story. Guitarist Jed, bassist Patrick and drummer Bobby started in a room lit by a single green light, which changed them from humans to Zig Zags in the summer of 2010. Within the next four years, they’d record a song with Iggy Pop and an album with Ty Segall and go from playing house parties for pizza to staring off the stage at the Fillmore West. Before them had come giants—bands like Kiss and Sabbath whose names were carved into desks in detention for decades. Before them had come mutants, heavy metal and punk bands like the Dictators and Pentagram that spun into the void of history after failed orbital rendezvous with the fame they’d deserved. And before them had come freaks, one-known-copy private-press insanities like J.T. IV, White Boy and the Average Rat Band—the bands that happened when someone with a guitar thought fuck it loud enough for the tape to pick up. Those were visionaries, each of them, even if most of them paid—or never got paid—for it. And Zig Zags had a vision, too. It was a dark and weird one, the kind of thing you see flickering on the monitor when your stolen spaceship wakes you up from cryo-sleep, or the kind of...

Zig Zags

Brainded Warrior / So Stoned

In The Red

Just in time for the release of their self-titled debut, Zig Zags unload this vinyl-only single featuring one track from the album backed by a non-LP ripper. Grab it before it’s gone forever. “Road tards, rat milk, magic frogs and motorbikes / Ghost pirates, trailer park babysitters, King Kong Bundy and werewolf santas / NWOBHM, early Metallica, the Wipers, Budgie and Bobby Soxx / It ain’t retro, it’s total fucking recall / Get me off this dying rock / Escape from LA while you still have the chance.” —Randy 2024

Zig Zags

S/t

Riding Easy

In the year 2014, in the ruins of the city once known as Los Angeles, three underworld dwellers with one job, one hot tub and one unkillable riff between them knew they had to make a ripping record-or die trying. This is their story. Guitarist Jed, bassist Patrick and drummer Bobby started in a room lit by a single green light, which changed them from humans to Zig Zags in the summer of 2010. Within the next four years, they'd record a song with Iggy Pop and an album with Ty Segall and go from playing house parties for pizza to staring off the stage at the Fillmore West. Before them had come giants-bands like Kiss and Sabbath whose names were carved into desks in detention for decades. Before them had come mutants, heavy metal and punk bands like the Dictators and Pentagram that spun into the void of history after failed orbital rendezvous with the fame they'd deserved. And before them had come freaks, one-known-copy private-press insanities like J.T. IV, White Boy and the Average Rat Band-the bands that happened when someone with a guitar thought fuck it loud enough for the tape to pick up. Those were visionaries, each of them, even if most of them paid-or never got paid-for it. And Zig Zags had a vision, too. It was a dark and weird one, the kind of thing you see flickering on the monitor when your stolen spaceship wakes you up from cryo-sleep, or the kind of...