The Pop Group - Citizen Zombie

Along with Gang Of Four, The Pop Group are the other post-punk legends making a return this fortnight, and the band certainly haven’t lost their enthusiasm for far-left politics. Indeed, Citizen Zombie frequently sounds like a Joe Higgins speech with an avant-funk soundtrack, as the band rail against consumerism, advertising, corporate greed etc.
At times, this approach can veer into empty rhetoric. The title-track, for instance, I found unintentionally funny, with its sloganeering lyrics (“Your factory formed opinions and your tabloid minds”) reading like a parody of a Facebook diatribe. For the most part, however, Citizen Zombie rages against the machine in effective fashion, and musically, it even achieves brilliance at times.
Particularly outstanding are the punk-funk duo ‘Mad Truth’ and ‘S.O.P.H.I.A.’, both of which are built around irresistible grooves, with avant-electro noise bombs detonating all over the place. Elsewhere, ‘Nowhere Girl’ is a slice of juddering art-rock with echoes of Bowie and Blur, and ‘The Immaculate Deception’ is a wonderfully surreal sound collage.
Still as spiky and provocative as ever, it’s great to have The Pop Group back.

Key Track - 'Mad Truth'