Classic Day – The Dead Ones

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Matt's Music Mine

600x600bf-2 From the age of nihilistic and disparity in punk rock music, there has always been the theme of raw, unfiltered opinions of the public. Whether these opinions are valid of the general population, The Zero Boys just simply do not care. Their 1981 release Vicious Circle holds a certain merit behind the blitzing punk rock cascading over from Indiana.

The Zero Boys were finally a band that was from a different area of punk rock that could release a new insight into the genre, Zero Boys picked up where so many bands left off in the early 80’s as a new found force that could clash with the incoming gloss of hair metal and the remnants of disco. With the opening of the 41-second long introduction that clambers into frame with a ripping guitar roar and sudden percussion blast that is covered by an overcoat of vocals that smash along and create this mess of impact. The noise is then cut through by a woman’s scream as “Amphetamine Addiction” then becomes the crowning jewel to Vicious Circle.
Somehow building a barricade on the comedic and the sadistic, Zero Boys are a slightly more deformed, more heavy version of every satirical B-movie ever created. They can capture that spirit of unrelenting punk force with the fun of manipulation and adaptability behind their sound. They do not fit a certain mold, but instead use their roots of punk rock to destroy the walls within the genre. They are less focused on technique and more direct on forming a real powder-keg of punk rock. Their tracks are quick, usually heavily sincere on creating the most noise as a possible, and eventually using their lightning striking nature to construct one of the better underground releases of the 1980’s.

up-zb1 The foundation of a solid sound and backbone is one of the more important aspects of how Zero Boys can rise on their own personality within the sea of music. With “Drug Free Youth”, “Outta Style”, or “Forced Entry”, the tracks all feel incredibly similar but have minute differences that depend on the breakdown placement or the way that the guitar shifts around. Ultimately, there is some sense of familiarity that appears before the end of Vicious Circle that feels almost as an old friend that comes around. It could be the way that the riffs are formed over the almost Ramones-esque instrumentation or the way that the vocals are almost at a party rock performance.

In any sense of the word, Zero Boys are a cult classic that rely on the shocking nature, the strange, and the youth voice to bring Vicious Circle to a new forefront. With the sun setting on the Zero Boys’ horizon, the gracious glow slowly fades into the final silence that followed reunion tours and records to come.