Radiation Beach is a really strong record with an Angry Samoans / Dickies / Rezillos feel - high energy punk rock with a pop feel.

Zodiac Killers are a San Francisco band with both male and female vocals, and they aren't big cursers (you can play all the songs on the air, unlike many other Rip Off Records artists).

The band cover Angry Samoans Steak Knife on their first LP The Most Thrilling Experience. This time they cover You're Cold by first wave SF punk band The Jolt and Telephone Rings Again by 1979 UK punk band The Notsensibles. Both of those tracks are among my favorites on the disc. As for their originals, the band show humility by crediting "all stupid lyrics by Greg Lowery" (bass/vocals). The other members are Jeremy Tuman (lead guitar/vocals), Ruby Tuesday (rhythm guitar/vocals) and Bill Randt (drums).

UFO Invasion has a Dickies sound, You Are an Accident and You're Cold have an Angry Samoans sound. I Wanna Be a Pornstar is the first of my faves. Ruby Tuesday sings on it. The backing vocals are pure Rezillos. The song is catcly and fun. Ruby also sings lead on I Gotta Secret.

Don't Get Burned has a guitar part kind of like Brian James played on Neat Neat Neat (Damned). Throw Your Stereo and Too Far Gone drive at a fast clip and have a slightly generic post-hardcore punk rock sound. Psycho Twist is a little more distinctive, but still not one of my faves.

Restraining Order is one of the best songs on the record. Ruby sings lead, but Greg provides strained "yeah, yeah yeah-yeah-yeah" backing vocals that become the hook.

My favorite song on the record is the cover of Telephone Rings Again. The song starts slow, but becomes quick, with a sing-song pop vocal kind of like Pete Shelley in early Buzzcocks.

The record ends strongly with Radiation Beach, which starts with a riff like Angry Samoans Lights Out. The song is no rip off though - it is a great original that shows just how fast and hard Zodiac Killers rock.

The band plays for keeps, as the message on the inside of the cover tells us "This is the final record of the Zodiac Killers. We want to thank all of our fans all over the world for their loyal support, and knowing a good band when they hear one."

Quite agreed - this is a good record by a good band.

Faves: 3,4,8,11,12