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Recording:
  Yellow Rainbow  
 
Artist:
  The Zom Zoms  
 
Label:
  Omega Point Records  
 
Release Date:
  June.2006  
 
Reviewed by:
  Indoor Miner  
         
 
Rating:
   
         
 
Review:
 

According to Zom Zoms' MySpace page, two males by the unlikely names of Zom Philmapster and Zoms Frenchman have been living and making music together for a number of years. The story goes that Zom, a retired encyclopaedia salesman, met Zoms when he took a job as a pizza delivery driver. "Obsessed with the similarity of their first names, the two became fast friends and soon discovered their common love for the musical arts. Moving in together was a logical choice and it allowed Zom and Zoms to dedicate themselves almost exclusively to music (and delivering pizza, which they now do freelance)."

OK! Rock'n'roll!

But one listen to Zom Zoms, and this almost makes sense. They sound like guys who would talk about music whilst delivering a marguerita and garlic bread. And when I say music, I mean – specifically – Devo, because these are guys who have clearly spent far too much time listening to their heroes from Akron. And although they have resisted placing plant pots on their heads, they do go for a matching polka dot look and have previously been described as dressing like "four gay Noddy's on meths"! It's perhaps no surprise then that when I reviewed their One Brain mini-album a while back, I used words like "wacky", "zany", and "daft". And little has changed on this follow-up, because Yellow Rainbow is wacky, zany, and daft, too! If I tell you that my daughter walked in and asked what this was in a "what-the-hell-are-you-listening-to-dad?" kind of way, before adding that it sounded like her little brother's "DS gone mental", then you should have some idea what it sounds like.

Yellow Rainbow opens with Deciduous Prophet, one of the best numbers here, sounding not unlike a speeded up Jocko Homo. Another highlight, Caught On Tape, finds them squealing "I'm on film / number one / FBI / CIA / KGB / PTA / STD / EMI" etc over a TVOD-like backing. The pick of the lot, however, is the title track which is almost irritatingly catchy, which is no mean achievement considering the chorus goes "Forty-four minutes in the sun, your retina will come undone".

Other highlights include Entertainment From Out Of Town, which sounds like what the early Teardrop Explodes b-side Camera Camera might have sounded like if the original tapes had been badly stretched, The Race of Zom Zoms with its Uncontrollable Urge feel, and the rather sinister sounding Nightmare Stampede. Yellow Rainbow ends with Pizzarama Universe, which actually sounds like an early Wire song, albeit with Colin Newman being backed by Devo with the Gang Of Four's Andy Gill guesting on guitar, rather than by Messrs Gilbert, Lewis, and Gotobed.

Admittedly a whole album of this can start to get a little bit too much as it can seem like something of a headf*ck after a while, but they do exude a certain, er, charm. Unfortunately, their MySpace page also includes a tiny message that says, quite simply, "We are defunct--no longer performing." That's a real shame, because there's something about Zom Zoms that puts a smile on my face.

 
         
 
Related Links:
 

Label Site: http://www.omegapointrecords.com/
Artist Website: http://www.tubezomzoms.com/  
Artist MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/zomzoms
Also on EvilSponge:
     EP: One Brain

 
         

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