Zodiac Mary was the last gasp of a lost musical cause. The last gasp of what was once considered to be the golden age of big-haired 90’s hard rock. ZM rode the cusp of what was hair, punk rock, garage and grunge, never fitting easily into any one genre although metal seemed to be the likeliest choice but ask the band, they're as far from metal as they could be. The Rock and Roll era of the late eighties and early nineties was one of image first and music second and since they were essentially ugly, they could never find a comfortable place among their peers so the focus was on crafting songs to showcase the ugly side of the era. That plus an incredible amount of really bad attitude set them apart from their contemporaries who were as eagar to please as puppies.
Kicking around a scene where every band on the musical landscape wanted to be Bon Jovi or, to a lesser degree, Skid Row, ZM set out to destroy the revered New Jersey Bon Jovi mystique and tear apart the high-minded and stuck up Jersey Shore scene that threatened real rock and roll with extinction. It wasn’t easy.
The first time ZM took to the stage in all their leather and flannel glory, was at a tiny club in Asbury Park, deep in enemy territory, in November 1992. Even though they didn’t suck, their non-chalance and nature of being unimpressed by what they were doing came across fully and not to their advantage. The big-haired shore idiots with their golden curls and cheerleader groupies wearing ripped Bon Jovi and Firehouse t-shirts didn’t get it either. No one got it. No one had heard this kind of racket since the Sex Pistols disintegrated all over the South on their 1978 tour of America. There was no hairspray and there were no sweet harmonies or I love you girl lyrics. There were no synthesizers or guitar hero posturing. They were the real deal, shoving their Les Pauls and Marshalls in your face. Every club manager, sound tech and band they came in contact with left with a very bad taste in their collective mouths when ZM invaded their turf. ZM was not for the faint of heart. They were loud and bombastic and while no other band on the scene sounded like them, appreciation for their brand of noise was unheard of in mainstream Jersey. No one would even piss on them they appeared so unapproachable. How could they be when Angelo would tell a member of a band they played with one night that they sucked to his face? He would then turn away and continue pissing while the poor guy would leave nearly brokenhearted. He must have seen the truth in what Angelo said because he quit that band soon afterward. They rubbed people the wrong way and it got them more trouble than it was worth. A show at Club Bene was short of a disaster when Jay had to be smuggled out because of a slight misunderstanding with some bouncers who wanted to hurt him badly. Another show had the guys playing at lunchtime because they sold absolutely no tickets. They couldn't be bothered. Then their rehearsal studio got raided by the narc's and that was the turning point to the whole story.
ZM only lasted a short while but those who remember, recall the mayhem, the promise, the chaos and the spirit of what rock and roll used to be. Bands like Bon Jovi may play at being rock and roll but they wouldn't know real rock and roll if it came and bit them on their spandex. Real rock and roll tends to outlast the derivative and false. ZM was real rock and roll. Thankfully, they've reconvened to bring back that almost joyous sense of angst and attitude back to a dead scene mired in mediocrity and Nickelback. They want to revive that gasping monster and if anger is a traditional hallmark of what rock and roll used to be then ZM is the living embodiment of that very anger. Go see them if you have the balls, if not piss-off. They probably didn't want you there anyway.
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