The Zips - 19 FOREVVA

When punk rock exploded onto the headlines of the nationals in the late seventies the effect would be seismic.

The aftershock rippled across the whole of the UK and the disenfranchised youth from everywhere answered the call to arms.

Of those who immediately stuck a safety pin through their heart and formed a band there's not that many from the provinces that are still around, and sadly those who are seem content to celebrate their own past glories and little else.

One of the exceptions is of course Scotland's very own The Zips, a band who have been kicking about in one form or another forever, and one who appear to have a fire that simply can't be extinguished.

I'm sure that a young Jon Zip, who watched the seventies give way to the eighties, could never have imagined that in 2012 he would still be fronting a band he formed then and would be continuing to release pent up energy through punk rock.

Yet here he is proclaiming he will be '19 Forevva', and along with his band-mates doing it with a great deal of heartfelt panache.

Music wise there's echoes of The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers that are evident throughout, and both influences allow the listener to comfortably slip into the groove without the need to acclimatize themselves to a sound that is initially completely unfamiliar.

This is what most would describe as traditional punk rock.

It's passionate, it has a point and it's sparks with life.

You could have a list and tick points off on it.

Political commentary, tick.

Outsider angst, tick.

Anthemic choruses, tick.

It's all there, and all very well done.

Especially on the track 'Straight to Helmand' that eloquently questions the loss of life in foreign lands and how we perceive it in society.

Who says modern music doesn't say anything anymore?

Here's the proof that they're wrong.

Get on this. You wont be disappointed.

The Zips