Frontman Zach Prosser of Z likens the coming together of his band to activation of the robot starship Voltron, a combined entity of equal, interdependent parts and powers. The former guitarist of Nashville punkers Mom and Dad makes no play for consideration alongside the more niche — and less distributive! — Japanese mech Mazinger Z. As his latest band’s charismatic leader, he is thankful of his musical co-pilots’ individual skills.
“We’re all very active musicians and artists in our own right so writing something in Z goes down specific pathways of whomever is spearheading the song,” Prosser tells PureHoney. “We all have very different ways of creating so we try to use each person’s tactic as means to getting what we want out of a song.”
The son of German immigrants who raised him on a farm, Prosser would eventually gravitate musically toward punk and hardcore in Nashville, becoming a deacon of the city’s DIY culture while cultivating his own take on it. The chemistry between himself, guitarist Steven Bauer and drummer Julian Ciany has been bolstered with the addition of bassist Annalyse Clark.
As anchors of Nashville’s “other” music scene, Z are at the forefront of redefining, or rather, modernizing punk rock. A trio of digital singles, an EP and 2018’s debut LP “BarbedWire.org,” present a rollercoaster of sounds and influences that are executed honestly and with glee. Prosser boils it down to a collective worship of groove and heaviness, adding, “We seem to find those two within whatever genre we’re into and wanting to work with.”
Their newest effort, “Trauma Center,” will be released by Cold Lunch Recordings this July, preceded already by an explosive single, “Breeding Time.” Z fluctuate from dreamy jangle pop to industrial metal with such cacophonous ease that it might be reminiscent of a mid-’90s Food Not Bombs show featuring an acoustic punk set, a power violence band and a noise act. It is an artful explosion that manages a narrative delivering catchy, danceable energy. For those who haven’t experienced it yet, Prosser warns they’re a band going “full steam at what they’re into regardless of who gets it and who doesn’t.”
Z, Glass Body, The Welzeins and Real People play 8pm Thursday July 11 at Voltaire in West Palm Beach. zart.bandcamp.com ~ Abel Folgar
