The large majority of Brooklyn based Zs' output consists of their work as a sextet—a varied body of work focused around rhythmic intensity and textures based on duality. To reexamine the group's early recordings is to make a sonic map of the changing attitudes of New York new music and how the talent in the area learned to hybridize their surroundings and their musical skills. In that sense, Zs are the New York avant-garde personified; their role as a bridge between loft bands and chamber musicians, lo-fi and "high art" represents a lot of the essential artistic ideologies in 21st century New York.
My adoration for Zs began with New Slaves. Back in 2010, playing that record on a whim was one of those rare, identifiable "eureka!" moments, where I had decided immediately that I discovered something truly new. Zs struck me as a group who had cemented themselves as a unique presence through sheer hard work, combining the chops of conservatory musicians with the progressive attitudes of the modern New York scene.
Going back through their work, I was stunned to find that the group had existed in some form or another for over ten years. I had to catch up on a decade's worth of some of the most forward-thinking artistry to evolve from the Brooklyn experimental scene. Plus, the group had an output consistent enough to justify the band's lengthy career and roster changes; Zs has gone through over ten lineups and a fair amount of dynamic shifts in personality. The only constant member is saxophonist Sam Hillmer, with past players including Alex Mincek, Ian Antonio, Matt Hough, Ben Greenberg, Charlie Looker, and a few others in shorter tenures.
Score collects over four and a half hours of Zs music, and I can't be happier about it. It includes each recorded album of the band between 2002 and 2007—comprising Zs, the Karate Bump EP, Buck, and Arms—as well as some remixes from Zebrablood (Excepter's Nathan Corbin), outtakes, sketches, bonus songs, and a booklet with photos, sample sheet music, and a previously published essay on the group. The essay actually covers more than the box set itself contains, but as a document for tracking the evolution of Zs' lineup and outlook, it is unmatched. The four discs, meanwhile, capture a band in the throes of a creative outburst; building a sound from scratch, then allowing it to find its niche while simultaneously pummeling its point into your head over and over.
Zs' signature sound might seem a little contrived when experiencing it without context. The basic idea follows: take the rigidity and traditions of conservatory-taught chamber music and apply them, as strictly as possible, to the irreverence of free jazz and avant-garde music. Then, depending on the instruments at play, and the skill of their performers as producers, adjust where necessary. As it happened, Sam Hillmer and Alex Mincek were talented—insanely talented, enough so that this formula blossomed into a whole unique form, instead of being cast off as another high-concept novelty.
Considering how much forethought is at work here, Zs' music is best dealt with song by song. The punctual "thump" sound prevalent in their early work serves as the defining characteristic of the group. What Hillmer calls the "textured jab" is a thematic continuum based on sheet-read abstract rhythms which sets Zs songs up for their more engaging ideas and idiosyncrasies, such as the minimalist textures of "Bump," the collapsing structures of "Olympics," and the angular climaxes of "Pendulum." On its own, the acrobatics of songs like "Woodworking" tend to lull under their own weight, but when applied to different chord progressions and driven by overarching themes, Zs' music produces an uncanny bliss. One of the shining moments for the group is "Nobody Wants To Be Had," a cathartic assault where each member plays in exact unison, chopping up the syllables of a surrealist poem between passages of pounding noise rock.
Arms is still the sextet's opus, where songs like the exhaustive "I Can't Concentrate" conjure (and then mercilessly drown) a whole new language of songwriting in ten or so minutes. Notable is the one glaring misdirection in their otherwise consistent oeuvre, the self-titled "Zs," a composition of pleasant rhythmic undulations and overlapping vocal harmonies highlighting lyrics such as "Zs are a band of mystical bros." The song appears to be a post rock pastiche, although it works surprisingly well as a self-effacing anthem too.
Aside from the prototypes and remixes (which are pleasant and forgettable), what stands out on this compilation is the live material culled from Buck, released back in 2007. It shows off their indisputable skill as live performers, but also finds time to lend their music some well needed levity. Notable moments left in the live versions include the pained preaching of a fan to "give them some fucking money...pass around a hat" on "Pendulum" and the oddly-well-recorded heckling near the end of "Bump," where someone is audibly heard yelling "Slayer!" and "Sheet music rules! Fuckin' college!" to the chagrin of the audience.
In fact, I have come to love Zs more as a group while exploring their old catalog because of their humor in tackling such stringently orchestrated music. Along with the self-titled "Zs," songs like "Retrace A Walk" and "Woodworking" seem pointedly, comically literal, and the band's own lighthearted appraisal of Howard Stern's sarcastic mock-up of their sound ("One of the pieces they did was pretty good") is all too endearing.
Zs began as a collection of individuals with distinctive, angular tastes. These days, it has evolved into a band aesthetic, a studio project, and a conceptual goldmine for minimalist side projects and over sized Playbutton pins. But Score captures where the group earned their stripes: through hard work, constant practice and improvement, a sense of perspective, and a willingness to explore areas of music that few others had the wherewithal to. It has quickly earned a place as one of my favorite releases this year, and I hope that Northern-Spy's dedication to putting it out will mean the same for a plethora of potential fans.
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