It is in the face of the continued ignorance of the 1977 U.S.
punk
scene that
the Zeros
re-formed in the '90s, all four members intact, initially to record old, lost material for 1994's
Knockin' Me Dead
. It's not like they had nothing better to do. Guitarist
Robert Lopez
made a fine living touring the world as
El Vez
, the humorous, saucy, Mexican
Elvis
impersonator. Bassist
Hector Penalosa
made overlooked, nifty
pop
LPs solo and with
Flying Color
. And singer/leader
Javier Escovedo
teamed up with his brother
Alejandro
in
True Believers
. But from
Right Now!
it's clear this spirited foursome came back because, like the scene they sprang from, their music was just too much fun to die. Dubbed "the Mexican
Ramones
" 22 years previously, that not-far-off tag failed to account for their other telltale influences: pre-
touchstone bands and heaps of
garage rock
.
The Zeros
make that apparent on
, pulling out old covers of
the New York Dolls
,
the Seeds
, and
the Sonics
. But the originals, including two redos of 1977-1980 nuggets
"They Say (That Everything's Alright)"
and
"Handgrenade Heart,"
also blast with this Neanderthal, straight-ahead blast-
rock
, so loud, raucous, and full of
rock & roll
esprit -- the very quality missing from modern
. Like older songs from
"Wimp"
to
"Wild Weekend,"
they still range from slow, sloppy, grungy
like
"Siamese Tease"
to rasping, rushing smasheroos such as
"Right Now!,"
with
Penalosa
's more melodic
bent indulged in
"You, Me, Us."
You know what?
don't care who's paying attention. That was the point, then and right now: they still seem like a secret, an attitude adjustment unchanged over two decades. Just yell "1-2-3-4" and they're off. ~ Jack Rabid