Zig Zags – Scavenger 7″ – Styrofoam Drone

The debut 7″ from Los Angeles sludge-punks ZIG ZAGS just might be our favorite 7″ this far into 2012. Thanks to the folks at Mexican Summer, we now have the pleasure of sharing Scavenger with all you fine people.

“Scavenger” is the type of song that could nearly leave you speechless and gasping for air as this grungy trio employs an array of influences into their scuzzy, sloppy sound. From the beginning things sound like a streamlined grunge-punk ass-kicker, dominated by a toxic guitar onslaught that refuses to take “no” for an answer. Then about halfway through the guitars unexpectedly lose momentum and suddenly you find yourself trapped in a slowly oozing, psyched-out meltdown, riddled with squealing guitar licks scattered amongst the dirgy complexion. This come-down only sets you up to be completely obliterated by their raging punk spirit the second time around, flattening you once again as they regain their shocking pace in the final minute of the song.

B-side “Wastin My Time” shows a different side of Zig Zags, where their grungy punk seems a bit more calm and collected – almost like they had time for calculation instead of spiraling out of control and throwing a huge tantrum in your face like in “Scavenger.” Now the majority of the song might be true to this description, however the final forty seconds show the song taking a drastic turn into more bashing, psyched-out action. For those of you who weren’t aware (because I wasn’t either), this brief post on Pitchfork gives us a bit more insight from where the three dudes in Zig Zags come from – namely from past incarnations of bands like Unnatural Helpers and The Intelligence.

All that being said, we’re not exactly sure how anybody could dismiss these ragers from Zig Zags. As far as we’re concerned, this is the kind of sound we’re searching for on a daily basis. Go snag a 7″ from Insound right now and join the party – there’s only 300 copies to go around, so you might want to act fast!

Scavenger –