Zulu are an emerging London based underground act with a intense and authentic old school punk vibe. Fusing a galvanising mix of garage rock, English punk, ska and hardcore, this group create short, ballsy tracks that sound simultaneous nostalgic and fresh in equal measure. The group’s sound, which they themselves describe as “tribal punk”, is definitely surly and antagonistic – not precisely aggressive or nihilistic, but very intense, persistent and genuine. Each track is rough around the edges, with whisky soaked vocals and choppy, distorted guitars. Zulu create music that is visceral, fun, urgent and physical.
With plenty of dirty Instagram style promo pics and a significant number of pork pie hats, this group look like they have emerged fresh out 1980’s Camden or Coventry. Visually Zulu have taken clear influence from the likes of The Specials, but in reality the group have more of an aural influence from hardcore American acts such as Cerebral Ballzy, Dead Kennedys and The Misfits. The punk vibe follows through to the group’s marketing too, with the production of their first EP limited exclusively to tape format. This DiY approach is purposely grassroots and niche, and is applied whole-heartedly to each way the group market themselves, from promo posters to t-shirts. This could be arguably considered to be slightly pretentious – but limited production lines and secret launch parties are a sure fire way to create intrigue, exclusivity and buzz.
This exciting new punk act may have only been active on the music scene for a few months, but they have already been labelled by NME Radar’s band of the day – a sign perhaps of exciting things to come. Their self-released debut EP Way of the Zulu was released in March on a limited 500 copy tape run, but it is also currently available to stream on the group’s website.
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