New news! Paul & Hamish from old NZ band emptyquarter have formed a new band with Shannon (drummer from Product/Start Burning) They invited me down to review them last Saturday at Bakehouse in Richmond: This band to me represented all that hardcore is and should be. Maximum rock actually deserving of the moniker. Zombie Sex Gang is a three piece comprising two guitarists and a phenomenal drummer. Hamish (The Council, Emptyquarter, Love Truncheon) is the lead vocal man & plays a guitar slung deep and nasty with a huge fuzz effect giving the band its deep bass edge. Paul (Emptyquarter, Love Truncheon, Frankensquire) plays a guitar that is more brazen - in a searing sheet metal way. Shannon (Product, Start Burning) resides in the band's engine room laying down a crisp staccato attacks and powerhouse punk-rock break aways. In a sense the band is a culmination of the heights reached in the underground Wellington, New Zealand-era hardcore/metal/rock scene (if such a scene can be said to have existed) but with added mastery, intent, experience and originality. While I still see countless other bands palming off stodgy knock-offs to unsuspecting audiences and rehashing retro-rock sensibilities as noveau-kitsch, these guys play what good hard rock should be while still having a damn good time in the process.