Although it happened a month ago, there’s still a lot left to discover from Cardiff’s Swn Festival. Today’s track of the day comes from one of the treasures left to uncover from the festival– Heavy Petting Zoo— a band who came with a glowing review from fellow Swn performers The Adelines… And quite rightly too.
‘Broken Bone’ essentially is post-punk maliciousness getting into a scrap with garage scruff whilst surf-rock observes from a safe distance. The guitars rattle and jangle with an inherent catchiness and it they sound very much like they wouldn’t be out of place on the Billabong Pro roundups (or some other extreme sports montage). It’s the lo-fi, grungy tone that overlays the track that stops it from being an outright surfside stomper– bringing more of the blackened attitude that serves to give ‘Broken Bone’ more of a musical razor edge.
Lyrically they’re even more vicious; talking about savagely breaking bones for no apparent reason except that they can. And whilst that should make you recoil back and keep your distance, singer Amy Zachariah’s vocals are sultry and seductive enough to lure you back in. It’s almost a case of knowing what sadistic acts are coming towards you and yet being completely helpless to walk away from it.
If ‘Broken Bone’ came with a warning label it’d definitely be ‘handle with care’. You may be lulled in a false sense of security by their guitars– but there’s malice and intent lurking just below the surface… Heavy Petting Zoo are making sure you watch out for them.
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