Zen Guerrilla
Positronic Raygun
(1998) Alternative Tentacles

Here is a band I saw live before having a chance to spend time with one of their discs. I was pleased to discover Zen Guerrilla FAWKIN RAWKS! I highly recommend you check them out when they happen through your digs. Zen are thrash, blues, soul as well as unclassifiable. Their blues riffs put John Spencer to shame. They are totally tight with no discernable ego... just loads of fun to see live. Zen was the second band of three to play and they were called back for an encore! First time I'd seen the middle band get called back.

Positronic Raygun is a brief release (about 35 minutes long) that mutates the blues scale about a dozen different ways before it's through. The album seems parenthesized by full throttle sonic assaults back-to-back with instrumentals. It starts off with a kickass instrumental "Saucerships to Ragtime" followed by a perfect blues/punk rock blend known as "Trouble Shake" (my favorite track on the disc). Likewise, at the end of the disc, we are presented with the aural attack called "2,000 Watts Over the Southside" which slides into the wordless "Frequency Out". What happens in between the parantheses is a great deal of fun for everybody, but especially for the band who exhibit a boundless joy in running traditional blues, modern effect pedals and the DIY punk ethic through their musical JuiceMan™ to see what comes out the other end. Take a sip... Positronic Raygun is easily one of the best releases of 1998.

–Mattro

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