LILI Z The two of us (Pollymaggoo)
http://www.myspace.com/pollymaggoorecords


MAXIMUM ROCK AND ROLL
Full disclosure here: Lili Z and Jack Volt were kind enough to send the initial Polly Magoo CD pressing of this album for review here at MRR and I lost the review in the shuffle. I checked multiple computers, e-mail accounts and under every rock for the review and turned up nada. Unfortuate, unprofessional and a detriment to all humanity…but perhaps a blessing is disguise. Although my initial review was glowing, the months that followed saw my opinion only strengthen with repeated listens. Now In The Red has graciously pressed it on vinyl to skirt the downloaders and (hopefully) open up the wonderful world of Lili Z. up to a wider audience, something that is long overdue in my opinion. In short, Ms. Zeller is a French punk queen, having done time in NO-TALENTS, SPLASH FOUR and, most recently, the amazing VOLT. "The Two Of Us" is her latest solo work, building off the previous singles and 10" that came in years previous. To say that it's impressive is a total understatement. Although this is one-woman electro-punk, it's a really varied album. Of course there are the buzzing crankers that cause all the itch'n'twitch commonly associated with synth-punk, the most striking moments on the record are simultaneously playful and dark. From the truly catchy moments like "Falling" and "That Guy (Is A Real Dream)" to the ridiculous weirdo bomb-out of "Dark Toilet", there's not a single dull moment here. "The Two Of Us" makes sense: Lili can be light as air or sinister as all hell and exceeds at both. A truly excellent LP, one of the year's very best. (Mitch Cardwell)


BLOW UP
Lili Zeller è la cantante dei synth-punkers Volt nonché uno dei nomi trainanti della vitalissima scena del nuovo garage francese raccontata nell'articolo "Tete de Bebe" (BU104). Adesso, un po' a sorpresa dopo l'ottimo album d'esordio del terzetto (BU109),Lili pubblica un CD che ha registrato in casa tutto quanto da sola. Di solito, in casi simili, ci si aspetta il classico disco acustico chitarra-voce ma questa è una rocker autentica e incontenibile, quindi faccenda si risolve in tutt'altra maniera. Ne viene fuori un disco secco et scheletrico, in cui la musicista elimin la componente 'synth' del suono originale per lasciarlo nudo e crudo garage-punk settantasettino (Count, Nix! Nix! Nix!), ora come anfetaminica visione rock'n'roll alla Ramones (That Guy), ora memore della lezione della prima Siouxsie (Only You and I, The Scale of Sensations), ora com un maligno stomp (A Piece of Meat), ora avvolto in un sudario di ombre darkoidi (Falling, Dark Toilet), ora nel cuore del primo hardcore californiano (Reality).
Chitarra incisiva e lancinante (So This is Love), le sconvolte distorsioni diThe Magnet's Call, basso, che macina scure linee a grappolo, batteria elettronica pestata e metronomica inlinea coi Volt (Why) e soprattutto una notevolissima capacità di scrivere 'canzoni' fanno di questo disco un gioiello vero che non ha nulla di invidiare ai Volt. Anzi, per qualcuno potrebbe anche suonare meglio. (Stefano I. Bianchi)

Z GUN / TERMINAL BOREDOM
Long-player from the lovely Lili Zeller, home-recordings all done on 8-track during the fall of 2007. If you're only familair with Lili's work as a member of Volt, this disc bears a little resemblance to their dark synth-heavy sound and is obviously close in spirit to her previous solo recordings as well. Guitar, drum machine, and synthesizers all wielded with skill, tracks ranging from guitar-led punk rockers("Nix!Nix!Nix!"/"Candeggina Burns"), synth-punk shockers ("Why"), moody and dark slow burns ("So This Is Love"), love songs, hate songs, weird punk experiments ("Dark Toilet")...a varied attack with interesting and different instrumentation on each cut, she must have quite an array of effects pedals in the living room. I've been following Lili since the Splash Four days and she's progressed quite a bit in her solo records making this her most well-honed effort to date. The fantastic booklet has a page for each song, which you can basically follow along to the music and get more of the story behind each song (lyrics, pictures, collages, cartoons) in a nice multi-media twist. As always, extremely sexy vocals and a fascinating artist to hear twiddle knobs, she always finds great guitar sounds (and loud ones!), and she whips off some stunning solos on a few of these cuts, and utilizes the synth emotively and effectively. It's remarkable that some of this stuff sounds so complex for home-recording...again, she's really outdone herself this time with a strong and well-done set of songs that must been a painstaking bit of work to put together. Dark sounding but maintaining a sort of playful energy, blazingly fast at times yet with plenty of moments of slow-simmer brooding and crawling. Lili's made a better sounding record in her home than most full bands could hope to achieve in a studio. And even ends it with a piano piece. Fantastique. Many will complain about this being CD only, but I will take what I can get. (Rich Kroneiss)

VICTIM OF TIME
This week's spotlight record feature is by the always impressive queen of French noise and one of the main contributors to the mighty Volt, Miss Lili Z. Fans of her aggressively nerve-cracking electro punk will be repeatedly impressed by this, her first CD format release (and second full-length) just unleashed this month entitled The Two Of Us, on PollyMaggoo Records. Lili knocks out fourteen new tracks of sophisticated raw minimalism, carefully balancing menacing rip-saw guitar and pulverizing drum machine crashes with intricate songs that have clearly forged a permanent spot for the most revered female force in punk.Although this new album takes adventurous new directions, each song resonates with an irresistible array of hooks that ensures it won't be leaving your head any time soon. The album's high notes cross into some surprisingly simple pop-centric tracks like "That Guy," and "With A Picture," laid down next to introspective sound experiments like those used in the nightmarish "Dark Toilet," come across as a new and dynamic extension of her sound. The building tension, interspersed with Lili's signature guitar slashings that shine like gold on the undeniably brisk "Nix! Nix! Nix!," all pull together and suck you back into such a mind-blown state, inarguably reinstating her righteous apotheosis in the rock'n'roll underworld. With all of her previous releases on PollyMaggoo and SS Records currently out of print, this might be your only chance to get your hands on Lili's stuff with the least amount of effort, so don't sit idly by as the rest of the modern world rediscovers why this is one French lady that you can never underestimate. (Todd Killings)

OX FANZINE
Lili Z. ist der kaum verklausulierte Bühnenname von Lili Zeller, die Eingeweihte in der Vergangenheit unter anderem als Mitglied von VOLT und NO TALENTS und damit als sehr aktive Vertreterin der kleinen, aber sehr kreativen Garage/Trash-Punk-Szene von Paris wahrgenommen haben. Nun, wer unter seinem eigenen Namen ein Album veröffentlicht und auf das CD-Backcover statt vier Fotos von Bandmitgliedern gleich vier (verschiedene) von sich selbst packt, der will "The Two Of Us" (man beachte den Titel!) offensichtlich als Solowerk einer zwiegespaltenen Persönlichkeit wahrgenommen wissen. "All songs written, played and recorded by L. Zeller at home in Paris on an 8-track cassette recorder in the fall of 2007", so der Hinweis im Booklet, und damit sind wir der Welt der Lili Z. doch sehr nahe. Punkrock durch alte, elektronische Musikinstrumente gedreht, Trashsounds statt cleaner Klänge, schmutzige Gitarrenläufe und halsbrecherisches Tempo - die One-Woman-Band zwischen Achtziger-Goth-Disco-Charme und coolem Garage-Punk. Man möchte vermuten, dass sich dieses Konzept über 14 Songs abnützt, aber von wegen: Lili ist kreativ genug, durchgängig für Abwechslung zu sorgen. Mein Hit: "A piece of meat" mit der schönen Textzeile "You are a vegetarian, me, I am a peace of meat ...". Sehr schön gestaltetes Booklet übrigens, auch deshalb also unbedingte Empfehlung für Freunde erwähnter Bands/Musiker/innen.
(Joachim Hiller)

INCOGNITO
Mit ihrer No Wave Elektropunk Band VOLT ist LILI Z. mittlerweile sogar auf dem großartigen US-amerikanischen Label IN THE RED gelandet, trotzdem hat sie ihr übermäßiger Tatendrang dazu gebracht auch wieder ihr Solo-Projekt zu reaktivieren. Harte Elektro-Beats treffen auf abgefahrenen Garage-Gitarren-Noise und rauhe Keyboardeffekte. Die 12 Songs reichen von rauhen New Wave Nummern, über 70s Punk infizierte Nummern, bis hin zu hämmernden Elektropunk Krachern. 16-seitiges Booklet mit schön chaotischem 4-farbigem Artwork.

ROCK SOUND
Da oltre dieci anni, la bella e brava Lili Zeller è una delle figure chiave della sotterranea scena parigina e francese in generale. Prima con Splash Four e No Talents, poi con i Volt e ora anche in versione solista con "The two of us", disco registrato interamente in casa con un otto piste. Chitarra, voce, synth e drum machine, non serve altro a Lili per creare 14 pezzi oscuri e minacciosi, punk più nell'attitudine che nella forma. Spesso si possono udire tracce della Siouxsie degli esordi, ma anche del passato (ma pure del presente) punk rock della chitarrista. Ottimo davvero.
(Stefano Gilardino)

SMASHIN' TRANSISTORS
It's been awhile since the No Talents & the Splash 4 broke up and Lili Zeller released her first solo record. It wasn't like she didn't keep herself busy through those years though. Since then her and partner Jacques "Jack" Amsellem have commandeered the Pollymaggoo and Royal record labels and the electrotrashdancepunk band Volt.
A half hour of teeth rattling distorted guitar, beats programmed to shake bones and Lili's voice spanning from a coquettish purr to a solicitous shriek that kitchen sink's from all the above mentioned past and throws other cups of blood into the blender.
The title track and "So This Is Love" are torch songs gone amiss in a electrical storm while others like "That Guy (Is A Real Dream)", "Why" and "Candeggina Burns" being bubblegum punk wiggling all about with nervous tension and "Scale of Sensations", "Count" and "Piece Of Meat" retroburned and modern wired. It all end's with a piano piece. Loads for both the dive bar arcadians and drunk basement party dancers to indulge their needs with here.
(Dale Merrill)