Zombie Dogs
Release Date: October 1st, 2010Click Here to Purchase
LP + MP3 Download - $ 11
Over the past two years, the all-female hardcore band Zombie Dogs has established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in Brooklyn, NY. Playing hardcore matinees at ABC No Rio, all-day feminist conferences like the Big She-Bang, release parties for the female drummer magazine Tom Tom, and radical d.i.y. feminist spaces such as the Girl Cave in D.C. and the Ex-Cock/Less Cock House in Philadelphia, Zombie Dogs are known for their commanding, tough, raucous approach to socially-conscious hardcore punk.
Zombie Dogs started in late 2008 as a side project of the now-defunct all-girl feminist hardcore band Carnal Knowledge, when Krista Ciminera and Diane Anastasio decided to switch instruments and write songs with a more light-hearted approach to the strong politics of their current group. When Diane moved across the country to join forces with Maximum RockNRoll Magazine, Krista found herself without a band and looking for something new. Kathi Ko, guitarist of all-girl indie/math rock group Each Other’s Mothers, wanted to teach herself drums, and Tamara Waite-Santibanez of No Guts No Glory Printing had been itching to sing in a hardcore band. After a couple of bassists, Rachel Rubino of Bridge & Tunnel (No Idea) completed the line-up, making them a local powerhouse group.
Zombie Dogs draw from real-life experience as young women in New York, speaking out about street harassment, being a bike messenger, living with life-threatening illness, douchebags in the pit, and nerding out about critical theory. Zombie Dogs carve out a space in music for fun, all the while staying true to their strong feminist and radical politics. They have shared bills with Grass Widow, The Assassinators, Condenada, Shellshag, and Death First.
Their self-titled 12″ is the first release on the all-women-run Brooklyn label Strength in Numbers Records, and includes three songs from “Pugraiser,” a demo self-released by Zombie Dogs on dumpstered cassettes in May 2009. The sleeve is designed by Waite-Santibanez and silk-screened by the band, complete with xeroxed insert and MP3 download.
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Thrashin - Zombie Dogs - Director: PUNKCAST
Zombie Dogs Press
Four Staff Top 10s, Issue #332 Jan 2011 – MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL
#41 of Verbicide Mag’s Top 50 Albums of 2010
“This is so fucking hilarious. Kathi, Krista and Rachel are playing these really badass HC songs while Tamara sings the corniest, funniest, wittiest lyrics that I could never imagine. I feel it is important to make this distinction: ZOMBIE DOGS is not a joke band, they are a band that makes jokes. So many puns… It’s amazing. And then the lyrics that aren’t a laugh a minute are so fucking articulate, particularly “R.M.L.” and “The Once-Over.” I have never heard a punk song, or maybe any kind of song, that imitates my feelings on walking down the street every day and getting harassed by people’s eyes. Yeah, pretty much, holy shit. ZOMBIE DOGS kind of just blew my mind.” – Helen Degenerate, MRR
“Eleven blasts of lady-built feminist skatecore for women and supportive dudes who like to thrash and respect the world around them and one other. I am so happy that bands like this exist: happy that they have both a message and fun to deliver, happy that they kinda remind me of an awesome old Ohio band called Pet UFO, happy that they have songs about being smart (“Three point one four/Nerd in the pit/It’s you!”), growing up weird, dealing with life’s obstacles and fighting back, happy that they embrace hardcore as a valid tool of expression and not a stylized, elitist tool of historical re-enactment. I’m even happier that they’re based out of Brooklyn, who could use more bands like them. There’s real anger in these songs, but they’re also catchy and enjoyable, and neither side cedes their power to each other. The record flies past at 45rpm and beckons you to play it again and again. I think I shall! 350 copies, silkscreened sleeves, what are you waiting for?” – Doug Mosurock, Still Single
“Wow! It’s been awhile since we’ve had a record like this come through our door. Zombie Dogs are an all-girl, Brooklyn-based quartet who churn out no-nonsense thrash-punk inspired equally by early DC/Dischord hardcore and the feminist politics of the Kill Rock Stars riot grrrl contingent of the early-’90s. While the music certainly owes a debt to the frantic energy of Minor Threat and Bikini Kill, there’s an element of lighthearted fun at work that was never present in most bands associated with the aforementioned scenes. The lyrics address and balance the disparate personal themes of growing up female, shy, and queer with universal punk concerns like pit politics, getting drunk, and nerds. Plus, these girls have a secret weapon in the pipes of singer Tamara Waite-Santibanez, whose shredded, gravelly delivery manages to out-tough most of the guy groups attempting to pull this kind of thing off. One of the more exciting and invigorating listens coming out of Brooklyn at the moment, and a hopeful portent of things to come for these ladies.” – Jon Treneff, Other Music