Wednesday, August 1, 2007

ZZZZZZ.... (Skull Kontrol Album).

ZZZZZZ.... was the second and final
noise-rock, alternative pop/rock
audio CD album from the punk rock
band, Skull Kontrol (1997-2000).
The release of this "sleeper" EP in
2000 was celebrated with the band
breaking up, making ZZZZZZ....
a posthumous release.

Record label: Touch and Go Records.
Recording location: Knee Deep Tenafly, New Jersey. (July 1999).
Original Release Date: January 18, 2000.

Tracks/Time:
In a Different Cage (2:19)
Primitive Offerings (1:49)
False Ceilings (2:36)
Long Wave (2:25)
Pigs in Heat (2:49)
Mater Delores (3:23)

Composers:
Skull Kontrol
Gear (Mater Delores)

Performers:
Skull Kontrol

Credits:
Chris Thompson (Vocals),
Kim Thompson (Bass & Background Vocals),
Andy Coronado (Spanish Guitar),
Brooks Headley (Drums)

"Skull Kontrol may have a fairly simplistic rhythm section, but they are the equivalent of a wrecking ball heading straight for the nearest store that peddles bubblegum pop music. Their songs are created a little differently than a regular three-chord punk band. Take, for instance, the single-note guitar lines of Andy Coronado. On a song such as "False Ceilings," he produces a heated fury that could have singed the eyebrows off Groucho Marx. Space within the tracks gives room for the instrumental portions, allowing the songs to breathe. The tempo shifts, tightness, and sheer volume of the group make for a fresh slant on the tired genre of punk, which is dominated by too many other candy-coated, barefoot, shirtless, green-haired posers.
Skull Kontrol's the real deal." ~ Stephen Howell, All-Music Guide.

"This was the sound of punk rock in the year 2000. Every now and then you run across an album that just exudes punk rock from every pore, but if you ask your local mohawk about it, he'll get a puzzled look on his face. Nation of Ulysses' "Plays Pretty For Baby," Gaunt's "Sob Story", Scared of Chaka's "Masonic Youth," Unsane's "Total Destruction," Godhead Silo's "Elephantitus of the Night," these records might not follow the standard punk rock formula, but what embodies punk rock more than ditching the normal routine? There's nothing more exciting to me than a band that can embrace the punk aesthetic and at the same time rewrite the rules, and Skull Kontrol is one of those bands. Let's face it, punk rock has been around almost as long as traditional rock and roll, so any band that attempts to do something new with it deserves your money. If you need references to other bands to help you make an informed purchase, in this case, there's no hope for you. I hear bits and pieces of "Dirty"-era Sonic Youth, early Rudimentary Peni and even Plastic Bertrand, but hey, what good is looking towards the past when the future has infinitely more potential?" ~ James Burns.

"All we know is what came before. In the context of punk rock, all we have is the past to guide us. Skull Kontrol ditched this aesthetic to look into the future instead. How non-punk of them. Feedback noise has never sounded so good. This four-piece thrash through six songs with defiant, reckless fury. Too bad they broke up shortly after this EP was released. They finished out on a high note." ~ C.L. Mount.

Categories: Albums Released In 2000 - Alternative Pop/Rock Albums - Break-Up Albums - Punk Rock Albums - Skull Kontrol Albums -