Zig-zags
Deadbeat At Dawn
Zig-Zag's fifth incendiary full-length LP, 'Deadbeat At Dawn,' is named in honor of the beloved B-movie, a no-budget action revenge flick set in the mean streets of suburban Ohio. Cult cinema is an enduring Zig-Zags inspiration, with the band frequently calling out exploitation films in their lyrics, odes to teen-delinquent classics like 'Over The Edge' and dystopian sci-fi such as 'Terminator' and 'Total Recall.' This album sticks to this obsession with the cultural underground, riffing on everything from demonic minions to apocalyptic visions and alien attacks. The opening track 'Not Of This World' is described by Maheu as, "a fighting-back-against-the-aliens song." The propulsive heavy jammer 'At War With Hell' fights the devils on their own satanic turf. The thrash power anthem, 'Take Me To Your Leader,' is - as Maheu explains, "about how we're always talking about the environment and going to Mars, then some aliens show up here and say, 'Yo, your planet is way better than where we came from, so we're gonna fuck you up and take it!'" This album is undeniably Zig-Zags' at their most epic and enormous in both the performance and the production. "We definitely wanted a bigger overall sound with heavier guitars," Maheu explains of the record, "still very '80s, but clearer. Our influences were Metallica's 'Garage Days' as Judas Priest... really heavy but not overly distorted." The result is the most focused, intense, and catchy Zig-Zags album yet, with the timing perfect for their distinctly melodic and maniacal call to arms. Finalizing recording and mixing just as the catastrophic fires hit their hometown in L.A., 'Deadbeat At Dawn' is the perfect soundtrack for a city rising up from the ashes of destruction. "I feel lucky that we got to put out this record when we did," Maheu said, "It's heavy and gnarly and kind of fucked up, but it's also a lot of fun - which is how we feel about Los Angeles."