Artist description "Now MR ZIPPY are what you call high quality punk rock. Hailing from Bristol, they sounded a tad like 7 SECONDS playing BIGWIG songs, with half the speed and twice the melody. I totally loved every minute of their enthralling set, and found the half-hour they played wonderfully refreshing. This is a band not content to simply hold back their talent and rely on the same hackneyed old GREENDAY riffs to drive their songs - they want to do it all their own way. And you can forget about basic three power chord structures and shouting with MR ZIPPY; there was some quite intricate guitar work going on there, showcasing the band's overwhelming ability not only as noble pop-punk song-writers, but also as talented musicians. I just can't wait to see them again". Taken from Pastepunk.com Review by "Slick" Nick Smith

Music Style Skate Punk

Musical Influences Most punk and a bit of other stuff thrown in for good measure

Similar Artists Satanic Surfers, Face 2 Face, SNFU

Artist History The year was 1992, punk rock was just dusting itself off for another rise across the USA, England of course had no idea, the South West doubly so. Partly inspired and partly bored by the bands of the time, guitar player Jon Burlinson and singer Mads decided it probably time to do what was only right and start a rock band. Of course it's always hard to find a group of people to do it with so several members came and went before the band had written enough songs to play their first ever live show and quickly think of the name 'Mr.Zippy' - a mistake that would stay with the band for ever. After a few years af playing, Mr.Zippy finally seemed to settle into the style of very fast, quirky punk rock and found a following for their hectic live shows, the band streamlined to a 4-piece with Mads, Jon, a then 15-year old Pete Jennings on drums and oddball and now leader of P4FT, Mike B on Bass. The band started to play in and around Bristol, being one of the only punk bands around at the time and still very young they quickly found an audience but in true Zippy style the curse of Jonah struck as they found problems with Mike and found themselves off the live circuit for about 9 months whilst practiing with 16-year-old new bass player Daryl BC. They struck back with a vengance though and got together a whole new live set of great songs and started to play once again in and around Bristol. WIthin the year they had also been into the studio twice to produce two demo tapes, 'Two Way Family Favourites' and 'Cheggers Plays Punk'. - The later ending up on the soundtrack to the UK bodyboarding video 'Keg Farmers'. The band gigged and gigged and interest got bigger and bigger. Around this time 22-year old guitar player Greg C Pearson had split up his band Yellowskin and formed the label 'Pigman Records' - he had planned to release, and had the budget for a CD album for Yellowskin and 'signed' Mr.Zippy to release a 7" record as an afterthought. With Yellowskin splitting up he was left with a bigger budget and turned his attention to Mr.Zippy. It was also around this time that the band started writing for the album that they found their songs becoming a little more complex and needing another guitar player. Greg seemed the obvious choice. And so, within months the band had recorded their debut album 'What You Are Like Says A Lot About The Kind Of Person You Are', at Bristol's Blue Room Studios. And with a frustrating delay the album finally came out in 1999. Not happy with just playing in local venues the band started to travel around the country, eventually embarking on a full UK tour with the Japanese band Displaced Person in 2000. They set out to promote the album and quickly found themselves selling out of albums quite quickly, along with getting a higher profile in the UK. It was around this time that the band started writing for a new album but only managed a short session at the infamous Whitehouse Studios, which ended up with 4 songs, 3 of which appeared on the limited edition 7" single "Another Weekend". in 2001, with the album sold out, Mr.Zippy started looking for a new record label, Pigman being sucked dry of all it's funds. A few different labels became on option but the band eventually opted to persue UK label Golf Records, who showed an interest. Golf refused to sign the band right away and so followed months and months of phone-calls, letters and perhaps some other stuff that brought the band to the attention of the labe, but to no availl. Unsigned and without a penny the band thought what their next move could be, which was of course a tour of Japan....it's obvious right? Golf Records boss Steve Beatty had told the band he wanted to hear some more material, and so the day before they flew out to Tokyo, Pete and Greg got on a train and turned up at The Golf offices with a 7" in hand for Golf. The Japanese tour went well and Zippy continiued to gig up and down the country. By the summer of 2001 the small cracks in the fabric of Mr.Zippy that had been Bass player Daryl BC had become huge rips and he was 'ejected' from the band. A move that was coming for a very long time. Long time friend and ex-Spiderplug (to become AD7) member Steph Stowden stood in for the band on bass for a few great gigs. And finally, in September 2001 the band recived a phone call from Golf Records - they were in. Steph had his plans to go to uni, so left the band to be replaced for a while by Hambis DeLaney, from the band The Stunt Doubles, again, just as a temporary measure. Good stuff comes all at the same time, so at the start of 2002 Zippy finally found a replacment bassist in Frank, who used to play for The Merics. He played his first gig the day Mr.Zippy signed their contract with Golf and his second gig in Bergen as the band flew off to tour Norway. With their first album re-released on Golf with a new cover and extra tracks, Golf decided to get Mr.Zippy into the studio once again. And so the story comes up to date, 5 muppets playing speedy punk rock, feuled by ambition and a love for it - look out for the second Mr.Zippy album "AMBITION IS CRITICAL" released March 10 2003

Group Members MR.ZIPPY line up: MADS - Vocals. JON - Guitar and b/vox. FRANK - Bass. PETE - Drums.

Albums What Are You Like....

Press Reviews Here's what some magazines said about 'What You Are Like…' From 'COP OUT' (UK) Mr.Zippy are the latest signings to Plastic Head's punk offshoot label Golf Records, and they peddle a damn fine brand of chirpy, speedy, melodic punk. The 5-piece may owe a lot to the Californian punk scene, but there are tinges of the hallmark British snottiness that set them apart from most other yank-punk wannabes. "What You Are Like…" belts along at a furious pace, the 12 tracks clock in at a little over 28 minutes in total, so no time to hand around here, then. Opener "Another Weekend" sets the tone nicely for the rest of the album, well paced and full of bristling chords and youthful energy. Much the same can be said for "Common Sense Girl", "Here We Go Again" and "My Best Friend". But Mr.Zippy aren't afraid to try their hand at ska-punk as on "Gunrack" - with it's excellent Wayne's World inspired refrain of "Why can't you see I don't need a gunrack, don't own a gun let alone many of them". In fact a word of praise needs to go to vocalist Mads whose intelligent lyrics perforate the album with a good dose of humour. "Picky" is another stand out track on the album, with it's catchy, snot-nosed "nah na na na nah" line, and "Promote This" echoes the thoughts of many undervalued British bands. If you like your punk to be spiky, energetic and humorous then Mr.Zippy might just be your bag, baby. 7/10 From 'Europunk' (Belgium) Mr. Zippy is a 5-piece band from the region of Somerset, Bristol in the UK that has been around since 1993. This is actually their debut full-length. Tracks from the debut CD are supposed to get airplay in the UK, USA and even the Finnish radio. Several tracks from the CD are to feature on compilation albums in the UK, USA, Canada and ... Japan. What's that say about the band? Well, it may not mean much to you at present, but this band really is on the rise and has built up a really good live reputation throughout the years. I believe this record was first released through Pigman Records, only to be later appointed to Golf Records for distribution (due to breaking up with their manager? Read the full story on that subject on their website). One of the first things you learn when you get a little more experienced is to open up your albums with a big bang, and MR. Zippy ain't no exception to that. "Another Weekend" is a more than charming song to open up with. It blasts full-speed through your speakers. You immediately recognize Mr. Zippy as a hard-hitting warp-speed skate-punk rock band with "poppy" edges. " Oh How You Lack A Personality," continues the album in style, and I must say it's one of the best tracks on the album. The chorus has a high sing-along capacity and this song shows how much their sound resembles early MXPX stuff. I get this feeling continually when listening to the album any further. So if you think this is just another three power-chord structure exploiting punk band with some catchy chorus here and there, you're dead wrong. Mr. Zippy doesn't only surprise here and there with some genuine and carefully crafted riffs, but also they showcase themselves as talented musicians. "Here We Go Again" is a perfect example of this. Generally, this music makes you long towards the summer because it has a very summery feel to it with certain parts that have a ska or "surfy" sound. "Gunrack", "My Best Friend" and "White Collar Lifestyle" deserve to be mentioned as somewhat standout tracks on this album as well. These guys sure haven't missed their debut. Another band to keep a close eye on. If you like early MXPX stuff, you cannot miss this release really. You won't be disappointed, I can assure you, although the quality of the production may not be 100%. 4/5 From 'Enough Fanzine' (Germany) Mr. Zippy is a fresh UK classic punk rock band that falls into the vein of bands like the Groovie Ghoulies or the Apers. The album is never boring, well balanced, catchy and tightly played. Seriously, the album is fun pure for every sunny day because it brings sunshine in your heart. The day when Ramones drop like bombs in Israel punk rocker need salvation. Mr. Zippy can surely help you overcome all the lacks in your lousy life. Check it out! From 'Logo Magazine' (UK) The very mention of the words 'self-financed', 'self-produced' and 'debut' strike terror into the hearts of reviewers everywhere, and generally lead to said album finding a permanent home in the little round filing cabinet in the corner known as the bin. All credit to Bristol pop-punkers Mr Zippy then for having the unshakeable self-belief necessary to take this album, the proud possessor of all the aforementioned words, and hawk it around the smaller labels until it was picked up by Golf. Let's get one thing straight, it ain't gonna change your life, but any band who can invest a recording with this amount of infectious enthusiasm deserves their five minutes of fame. Heavily reminiscent of Green Day circa 'Kerplunk!' (and, in this field, who isn't?), 'What You Are Like…' is the ideal soundtrack for bunking off school, getting pissed off with your parents and flicking the V's at the coppers behind their backs. In short, it's fun. Don't take it too seriously.

Additional Info New album AMBITION IS CRITICAL out on GOLF RECORDS 7/4/03

Location Clevedon, North Somerset - United Kingdom

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