Review: Zaga Zaga - 2 Songs Demo + 4 Songs EP = Zaga Zaga 7 Inch (2015)

  Regular readers of this blog (pffft...who am I kidding?) will already be aware of crazy Tel Aviv noisemakers Zaga Zaga from previous articles. This week finally saw the release of the appropriately named yet lengthy 2 Songs Demo + 4 Songs EP = Zaga Zaga 7 Inch. Despite having 6 songs in total and an elaborate title, this record has a total running time of approximately 7 minutes.
  As the title suggests, the first 2 songs are the same as last year's demo. From the get go with Song About Food and Customer Service (although this time spelt ...Costumer Service, which is either an accidental error or a purposely misspelt play on word), we get a barrage of fast finger picking, frantic drumming and full bodied vocal projection AKA shouting. The rest of the EP continues along the similar musical premise. 
   Either due to the songs being short or resulting in such, there is nothing too complex or deep within the lyrical content. However, they are not just shouting nonsense; Song About Food... and The Dancer are both reflect on real experiences and are quite relatable. While the former is the sort of song you'll have running through your mind as you shout at an incompetent waiter/waitress, the latter focuses on "the scene" and how people act at shows. At least that's what i take from it. Damn That Dog and Samba Samba are less obvious to me. I have not yet asked the band the meaning behind those songs, but there must be something. Samba Samba has an amazing middle section, which somehow (although I'm pretty sure it doesn't) sounds like it has a small horn section at parts. The band also covers Charles Bronson's Youth Attack; although hardly reinventing the track, they retain the aggression of the original, adding a little "Zaga Zaga-ness" preventing it from sounding too much like a carbon copy. Last track (I Just Called To Say) I Hate Your Band, reverting back to literal titles, is again a song focusing on experiences and personal opinions. If you've ever wondered why a certain band you think are atrocious are still managing to release record after record, play shows and get countless media coverage, then you could relate to this song. It is also catchy enough to have you shouting along to it.
   When I first saw the band, I wasn't totally taken by them. I saw them as just a repeat of Pinkeye Revival, a band that featured some of the Zaga Zaga members which I was not all too impressed with at the time. However, the more I see the band live and with the tracks on this record, I am beginning to admire the passion, aggression and musicianship (as masturbatory as it can come across at times) of Zaga Zaga.
  For fans of Charles Bronson, The Locust, Dangers and other fucked up shit!

4/5