The last letter. The last ever. Nothing comes after Z. It always has the final say, the last word. But it doesn’t let things end calmly, peacefully. There’s edginess, tension, even aggression in Z. As Roland Barthes writes in S/Z:
“…phonetically Z stings like a chastising lash, an avenging insect; graphically, cast slantwise by the hand across the blank regularity of the page, amid the curves of the alphabet, like an oblique and illicit blade, it cuts, slashes…”
No wonder Z has always had a special place in pop music, which seems to seek out the dangerous, the rebellious, the thing at the margins, the kid at the back of the bus.
Z gave My Morning Jacket the ultimate solitary character for the title of its 2005 album. Z lent ’60s legends The Zombies a dark side to their perfect pop. Z gave Aztec Camera a touch of angular sophistication in the early ’80s. Before you even hear their music the double Z at the heart of The Buzzcocks tells you to expect jagged buzzsaw guitars. And would Gorillaz be any good as a band name if it ended in S? (I think we all know the answer to that question.)
So today on It’s a Jangle Out There: the Z bands.
ZEBRAS – Too bad
ZOMBIES – I want her she wants me
ZIMMERMEN – Ordinary man
ZIG ZAG – Have I gone too far?
SPIRITUALIZED – Soul on fire
TRANQUILIZERS – Something about you
MAZZY STAR – Fade into you
SPACE DAZE – Line up on the solstice
AUTOHAZE – Dying flowers
FAZERDAZE – Zero
THE GAZE – Wouldn’t wanna miss you
AZTEC CAMERA – Oblivious
BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG ZOMBIE – Sad dreams, rainy morning
RAZORCUTS – I heard you the first time
NAZZ – Open my eyes
BUZZCOCKS – Ever fallen in love (with someone you shouldn’t’ve)?
JAZZ BUTCHER – She’s on drugs
JIM RUIZ GROUP – Every other Sunday
MARK NARKOWICZ – What a way to end the weekend
JOSE GONZALEZ – Heartbeats
SPLIT ENZ – One step ahead
ZILLIONS – Even though
BOZMO – In a dream
FANZINE – Dream of you
SNEEZE – Going for the drive
SQUEEZE – Pulling mussels (from the shell)
WEEZER – Island in the sun
GORILLAZ – On Melancholy Hill
LIZ PHAIR – May queen
SUZY BLU – Blu
ZONE OUT – This place
ZONE OUT – Clothes (still sick of it)
HOLLOW EVERDAZE – Last laugh
EYELESS IN GAZA – Invisibility
AZURE BLUE – Time is on our side
ZEN MANTRA – (Maybe) I’ll see you in my dreams
It's a jangle out there 