Zymotics
ZYMOTICS "WATCH THAT WORM / I GET TO BE HELL" 7" (NAGOYA, JAPAN- NEEDLE, 2002)
Of course Japan has been on my mind a lot lately because of the devastating earthquake last month. My wife and I know a number of people native to Japan who live here in the U.S. but whose entire immediate and extended families all still live in Japan so the earthquake kind of hits "closer to home" if you will. Instead of just saying "Oh, what a shame, that earthquake" and going back to eating dinner it changes to "Oh shit! I wonder if so-and-so's family is OK!" My wife's big extended family used to all live in New Orleans so this earthquake actually brings back stressful memories for us of trying to locate relatives in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Ugh.
Well, on to the Zymotics. This is their second of their two 7"s and is quite a whomper. There is this awesome rumble underlying "Watch That Worm" that gives it such an awesome punch and makes it such a great tune. Everything jells together on that song so nicely- the rumbling bass, great hooky guitar noodling, the off-kilter singing style and the well-placed starts-and-stops. Excellent, and very catchy and infectious. Plus I love the "What the hell are they singing about?!" aspect of it: what is the worm, and why should we be watching it?!? The B-side is great too, full of lots of great guitar noodling, and it has a weird vibe as well underlying it but can't top "Watch That Worm" for me. Come to think of it, some of the guitar riffage at the beginning and middle of "Watch That Worm" kinda reminds me of a similar guitar sound in portions of (but not all) of Tyvek's wonderful "Mary Ellen Claims" from about four years after this 7". Coincidence, or perhaps Tyvek were Zymotics fans (?).
The band was from Nagoya which, to put it in perspective, is in central Japan about 3 hours west of Tokyo (the epicenter of the recent quake was about 250 miles northeast of Tokyo). The band was a trio and in the late 90's originally consisted of Toru on bass and vocals, Aki Satake on drums and Dai on guitar. The same lineup were earlier called Bou Sou Nezumi and released the wild and raw "Rat Bag" 7"EP in 1996- watch out for that EP in a future posting! The trio's first EP as the Zymotics was the "(Eddie's) Random Bombing" 7"EP on the nice Answer label, recorded in January of 1998 but not released until 1999 (and I didn't find my copy of it until around mid-2000). That first EP is played at a faster pace, has screechier vocals and more of a snotty vibe which is cool of course but I prefer their thicker, darker, more growling Watch That Worm-era sound. From what I have learned, they changed guitar players on the "Watch That Worm" 7" from Dai to someone else. As well as switching to another well-respected label (Needle Records). Around this time, they also appeared on the "Ad Vice" comp LP with some exclusive tracks not on their 7"s. I have not heard this comp yet, so someone please help if you can!
After this 2nd 7" the band apparently morphed into some sort of goth-y affair which, traditionally, sends me running for the nearest exit door (and in this case too, although I've heard worse). They actually have a MySpace page with one track in that goth-y vein.
Thanks to blog commenter John for providing me rips of this 7" some time back! If any of you have an extra vinyl copy of this record please let me know.
Watch That Worm.mp3
I Get To Be Hell.mp3
As a bonus, here is the 1st Zymotics EP and here’s all of the stamp collector info about it:
ZYMOTICS "(EDDIE'S) RANDOM BOMBING" 3-SONG 7”EP
(ANSWER- NAGOYA, JAPAN, 1999)
(Eddie's) Random Bombing
I'm A Plastic
Break The Radio
LINEUP
Toru = Bass and Vocals
Aki Satake = Drums
Dai = Guitar
Recorded in January 1998 also at Huck Finn Studios in Imaike, Japan
* I'd also like to point out that it has a 1 1/4 "Dangerhouse-type" sleeve which is always a nice touch in my book. That, and silkscreened sleeves always make me reach for my wallet in a record store.
Of course Japan has been on my mind a lot lately because of the devastating earthquake last month. My wife and I know a number of people native to Japan who live here in the U.S. but whose entire immediate and extended families all still live in Japan so the earthquake kind of hits "closer to home" if you will. Instead of just saying "Oh, what a shame, that earthquake" and going back to eating dinner it changes to "Oh shit! I wonder if so-and-so's family is OK!" My wife's big extended family used to all live in New Orleans so this earthquake actually brings back stressful memories for us of trying to locate relatives in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Ugh.
Well, on to the Zymotics. This is their second of their two 7"s and is quite a whomper. There is this awesome rumble underlying "Watch That Worm" that gives it such an awesome punch and makes it such a great tune. Everything jells together on that song so nicely- the rumbling bass, great hooky guitar noodling, the off-kilter singing style and the well-placed starts-and-stops. Excellent, and very catchy and infectious. Plus I love the "What the hell are they singing about?!" aspect of it: what is the worm, and why should we be watching it?!? The B-side is great too, full of lots of great guitar noodling, and it has a weird vibe as well underlying it but can't top "Watch That Worm" for me. Come to think of it, some of the guitar riffage at the beginning and middle of "Watch That Worm" kinda reminds me of a similar guitar sound in portions of (but not all) of Tyvek's wonderful "Mary Ellen Claims" from about four years after this 7". Coincidence, or perhaps Tyvek were Zymotics fans (?).
The band was from Nagoya which, to put it in perspective, is in central Japan about 3 hours west of Tokyo (the epicenter of the recent quake was about 250 miles northeast of Tokyo). The band was a trio and in the late 90's originally consisted of Toru on bass and vocals, Aki Satake on drums and Dai on guitar. The same lineup were earlier called Bou Sou Nezumi and released the wild and raw "Rat Bag" 7"EP in 1996- watch out for that EP in a future posting! The trio's first EP as the Zymotics was the "(Eddie's) Random Bombing" 7"EP on the nice Answer label, recorded in January of 1998 but not released until 1999 (and I didn't find my copy of it until around mid-2000). That first EP is played at a faster pace, has screechier vocals and more of a snotty vibe which is cool of course but I prefer their thicker, darker, more growling Watch That Worm-era sound. From what I have learned, they changed guitar players on the "Watch That Worm" 7" from Dai to someone else. As well as switching to another well-respected label (Needle Records). Around this time, they also appeared on the "Ad Vice" comp LP with some exclusive tracks not on their 7"s. I have not heard this comp yet, so someone please help if you can!
After this 2nd 7" the band apparently morphed into some sort of goth-y affair which, traditionally, sends me running for the nearest exit door (and in this case too, although I've heard worse). They actually have a MySpace page with one track in that goth-y vein.
Thanks to blog commenter John for providing me rips of this 7" some time back! If any of you have an extra vinyl copy of this record please let me know.
Watch That Worm.mp3
I Get To Be Hell.mp3
As a bonus, here is the 1st Zymotics EP and here’s all of the stamp collector info about it:
ZYMOTICS "(EDDIE'S) RANDOM BOMBING" 3-SONG 7”EP
(ANSWER- NAGOYA, JAPAN, 1999)
(Eddie's) Random Bombing
I'm A Plastic
Break The Radio
LINEUP
Toru = Bass and Vocals
Aki Satake = Drums
Dai = Guitar
Recorded in January 1998 also at Huck Finn Studios in Imaike, Japan
* I'd also like to point out that it has a 1 1/4 "Dangerhouse-type" sleeve which is always a nice touch in my book. That, and silkscreened sleeves always make me reach for my wallet in a record store.
YES! I have wanted to hear this ever since I got hold of the first 7" years ago! Thanks a ton!
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Glad to help! The guy to really thank is blog commenter John who provided me the rips of this 7".
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Yeah, big thanks for John too. I've been trying to get that Ad Vice comp for a while now too, it pops up in ebay every now and then but haven't had luck with the auctions yet!
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Ya, a copy of the Ad Vice comp was on eBay a few months ago. If you ever get a copy or a rip of it, let me know.
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I still have not been able to track down this second 7". This is the first time I'd ever heard it. I have an extra copy of the "Eddie's..." 7" If anybody out there would like to trade for the second one, or the comp. Is the comp a 7"? I'd never heard of it until now.
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As I mentioned in the posting, the "Ad Vice" comp is an LP.
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so rad. radish. swedish turnip.
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