Last Words

After breaking up officially earlier this year, Melbourne punk-funk icons NO ZU release a parting gift to fans with this two track digital single, pairing a take on 23 Skidoo’s 1981 post-punk gem Last Words with a remix of Heat Beat Head (from 2022 EP Heat Beat) by Grim Up North (a new collaboration from renowned Norwegian producer Rune Lindbaek and Dan Tyler of UK icons Idjut Boys).

                   

NO ZU take the appropriately-titled Last Words and make it their own, filling the track with trademark ZUisms – whistles, yelps, timbales, horns, even new lyrics of their own devising. There’s also a great visualiser video featuring artwork by Bridget Trout, animated by Jon DiNapoli.

Grim Up North’s remix of Heat Beat Head accentuates its dark club elements, turning the track into a pulsing late night anthem.

NO ZU released the Heat Beat EP in 2022, featuring beloved vocalist Daphne Camf’s final recordings with the band before her passing in 2021. They played a run of sweaty and incredible shows over summer, including Chapterfest 30, Nine Lives Festival in Brisbane, and sold out headline shows in Melbourne, then called it a day in March this year.

Lead Heat Beat single Liquid Love was just nominated for Best Song in the 2023 Music Victoria Awards.

Formed in 2007, NO ZU released albums Life (2012) and Afterlife (2016), a string of EPs, and stormed stages around the world, from Barcelona's Primavera Festival to Mexico’s Festival NRMAL to Meredith's Golden Plains. Led by the magnetic, tireless Nicolaas Oogjes, NO ZU's multi- limbed, mutant punk funk evolved over more than 15 years to make them one of Australia's most distinctive and debauched groups.

NO ZU may have ended, but the ZU energy lives on in the form of projects like Cong Josie (featuring singer Nic Oogjes), Split System (featuring ZU percussionist Mitch McGregor), Sui Zhen (featuring ZU alumni Becky Sui Zhen and Andrew Noble), and saxophonist Cayn Borthwick’s solo work.

“Like a post-punk band discovering the joys of dub, disco, and Afrobeat” – Pitchfork
“Melbourne’s freakiest multi-limbed ensemble are masters of percussive lunacy and wild x-rated boogie” – The Vinyl Factory