Zodiac Killers
The Most Thrilling Experience

Greg Lowery is certainly not very well known, but he is one of the most important figures in '90s punk rock. Thanks to his Rip Off Records, he (re)brought to light the most genuine and sincere punk rock, the rawest and most connected to the original spirit of '77; almost all the best punk rock bands of those years passed through his label (Rip Offs, Registrators, Infections, Teengenerate, Metros, Intimate Fags, Problematics, Makers, Statics, etc.), but unfortunately, his was a battle against giants, and after about seventy records, Rip Off Records ceased to exist, disappearing completely from the scene.
We are left with the LPs released by the label and the bands Greg played in, and those who, like me, were lucky enough to take and listen to them in those years (unfortunately never live, as far as I'm concerned) know what I'm talking about.

After Supercharger (a great garage punk band that was pals with the Mummies), Greg founded the seminal Rip Offs, which I've already talked about in another review, but their story is brief, a handful of singles and one unmissable LP. After their breakup, Greg founded the Infections, a natural continuation of the Rip Offs, albeit with faster rhythms, but this band also lasted a moment, a single and an LP, and the band disbanded. At this point, considering that all his bands break up due to various quarrels, there's a suspicion that Greg might be a real jerk, but in the end, we care little, what's important is the music he churns out, and indeed here come the Zodiac Killers, a name dedicated to the famous serial killer (complete with cryptic messages written on the LP covers); this time the band is definitely more long-lived despite the various lineup changes, releasing as many as four albums, all of excellent quality, but it's on the first one that I want to focus.

"The Most Thrilling Experience" is an incredible punk album, 12 songs in just over 11 minutes, compared to the previous bands, the Zodiac Killers increase the execution speed tremendously and shoot punk rock at a thousand per hour, bordering on hardcore, it almost sounds like listening to the Angry Samoans on amphetamines playing hyper-accelerated. Just listen to the first track "Nazi Interrogation" to understand what you're up against: a rhythm section that moves like a train, guitars sharp as razors, flaming riffs and solos, voices that interchange with shouted and irresistible choruses; from then on, the band (with Greg on bass, Ross Fischer and Jami Wolf on guitars, and Bill Bowman on drums) doesn't lift the foot off the accelerator for a moment, and just as the record's been put on the turntable, it's already finished. All the tracks are intense and excellent with provocative and ironic lyrics, it's difficult to choose just a few so I'll name a few at random "Somebodys Gettin Screwed", "Sick Mind", "Feed It To Your Mom", "Come On + Die", "Steak Knife" (a cover of the Angry Samoans), "Medicate Me".

An excellent album of authentic and violent punk rock and the others from the band, even if the speed decreases slightly and the songs get a bit longer, are certainly not far behind, after all, Rip Off Records and Greg Lowery are a guarantee!