Züül: Air raid / On the run (33 rpm Single)
Everything goes in cycles, even in
that stubborn stratosphere called Heavy Metal. Yet it is highly remarkable
that, in our day and age of depressingly uniform media and a mainstream
music industry on the brink of implosion, such an uncommercial thing as
traditional heavy metal is alive and well. Young bands, from the Old World
all the way to the US of ObamA, are popping up out of nowhere, forming a
resistance to all that is bland, hype and forgettable. And, man, does it
feel good.
Where else but in the metal
underground would a young band have the idea and balls to release a
handnumbered limited edition vinyl single in a white logo-only sleeve?
Unerred by trends and hipness, upstarts Züül from Carbondale, Illinois have
put out just such an item on Planet Metal Records. Both the A and B side
testify to the fact that there’s something else out there in Retroland
besides grungy lo-fi alternative and stoner rock with riffs and sounds
pillaged from all the obvious late sixties and early seventies sources.
‘Air raid’ is a track so steeped in
the NWoBHM era that it should bring an instant twinkling to any ‘eavy
rocker’s eye. Mind you, not everyone who remembers those pioneering days
fondly would applaud the more punkish bands of the time (the names of Tank
or Jaguar or an early Maiden track like ‘Sanctuary’ springing to mind).
Still, the raw energy inherent to punk remains its prime asset and Züül’s
‘Air raid’ oozes precisely that energy. Züül’s particular style of
straight-up rhythm guitar work has a definite shoot-from-the-hip live feel
to it. Michael Butcher and Hateful Jared (how’s that for stage names, eh)
are aptly riffing and twinleading their way through the song, while mic-wielding
brother in arms Baron Wolf Batteau has the
‘three-pints-of-lager-and-it’s-a-go’ type of voice that you’d find on many a
British private press single from 1980. Seems like we’ve come full circle,
wouldn’t you agree?
On the B side, Züül have fittingly
packed their tribute to one of NWoBHM’s lesser known corners: a cover
version of Crucifixion’s ‘On the run’, from the latter band’s 1982 single
‘Take it or leave it’ on Neat Records. On this uptempo cut, Batteau goes the
extra mile, with bassist Bob Scott and drummer The Mosquito Hawk whipping
things forward. Guitars sound as crisply underproduced – please note that
this is a compliment - as is necessary for the material. All of this, of
course, proving once more that the only Pro Tools you need next to your
talent are a guitar with a few dents and scratches and an amp that can cut
the mustard.
If this 7’ has got the strong ale in
your adrenalin flowing, look out for the upcoming LP ‘Out of time’.
Title-wise, that’s hitting the nail on the head with music like Züül’s. The
vinyl’s due out in Europe on Germany’s High Roller Records, a young label
already much praised for its high quality reissues as limited pressings.
With ‘Warriors’ and ‘Warhammer’, Züül have put two new tracks off the debut
record online on their MySpace that easily top ‘Air raid’. Word on the
street is that we retroactive headbangers will have an shitekicker of an
album in our hands before many moons have passed. The single, as mentioned
above limited to a 1000 handnumbered copies, is also available from High
Roller Records. Oh, and where does that odd band name come from, you ask.
The answer being: go forth and Google.
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