Give It All Up

ZRAZY: “Give It All Up” (Velo)

ZRAZY ARE one of the most subversive acts in rock ’n’ roll right now. You can forget the infantile posturing of boys’ bands like Nirvana, and even the more pointed political invective of gangsta rappers like Snoop Doggy Dogg, these two true rebels are really out to turn rock on its ass.

Acutely aware that they are working in a business where women still are expected to project themselves as marketable figures of sexual fantasy for a predominantly male audience, they’ve chosen instead to openly declare their lesbianism and project the coded message, “fuck the boys” or rather, “let the boys go fuck themselves.” In rock, and especially in Ireland, you can’t get more subversive than that.

Zrazy also sing about “the love that dare not speak its name” in a way that would shame many of their closeted gay male counterparts in the rock business, and maybe even slightly embarrass – or just possibly delight – countless gay/bi female singers this century – from Bessie Smith, Edith Piaf, Judy Garland, Judy Holliday, Joan Baez and Dusty Springfield to Janis Ian, Tina Turner and Grace Jones.

And yet when they fire their opening salvo on this album, saying, “our music says no to the last 5,000 years,” it obviously applies not only to sexual self-denial but to every form of oppression ever suffered by women in a patriarchal society. That’s what makes Give It All Up, like the single that preceded it, ‘I’m In Love With Mother Nature’, one of the most important records released in Ireland, politically speaking.

And yes, Zrazy also have included the track ‘6794700’, along with an explanatory note on the album sleeve which says: “6794700 is the number for non-directive pregnancy counselling in the Republic of Ireland. In spite of a people’s referendum voting yes for freedom of information, this number is still illegal in the Republic.” Can you imagine Whitney Houston reading out that number during her recent gig at The Point, rather than shedding showbiz tears for Northern Ireland? No way.

But this is a collection of songs, not a political polemic in CD form and it is at this crucial level that Zrazy undoubtedly deliver in a way that should make lack of radio/TV support for Give It All Up a real criminal offence: Dave Fanning, Pat Kenny, Gay Byrne and Donal Dineen, take note. The experience Maria Walsh and Carole Nelson had as session musicians working with the likes of Christy Moore and Louis Stewart down through the years, plus their more recent absorption of soul, dance and Celtic influences make songs like ‘Be Alive’ a sheer delight. Indeed Carole’s jazzy piano licks on this track bring back all the liquid resonances to the word “licks”, as does her sax playing.

Maria’s voice has much the same effect, particularly during the positively orgasmic climax of the song. This is sensuality celebrated at a core level, irrespective of the sexual preferences of the lovers who like “kissing in the rain.”

Sadness, as paradoxically life-enhancing force is celebrated in ‘Laughing So Hard’ with the lyrical qualities in Maria’s voice flowing to the fore amid a delicious mix of female voices. The power of vulnerability also imbues the beautiful ‘When You Cry’ and ‘I Wanna Live With You’, a song for couples who know they shouldn’t share a home yet find they can’t quite breathe properly until they at least try. Likewise, ‘Private Wars’ . . .

The relatively lacklustre title track and ‘6794700’ – which, although it may contain helpful information, is hardly poetry in song form, or anything like it – are less impressive. Yet, overall Give It All Up is a magnificent debut album, which won’t disappoint their cult following.

And as their biggest fan I promise to wage war on any record company that puts together a ‘Woman’s Heart 2’ and doesn’t include Zrazy – the voice of alternative Ireland.

• Joe Jackson