The Zipheads hailing from Jamie’s home town of St Albans provide us with the rarest of beasts – a cover that is way better than the original. Their take on a musical staple is both energetic and raucous without losing the sentiment of the original. In fact, in a post Dickensian world the sentiment carries even more weight. We’ve got two belters from The Zipheads and lots more information and links so please read on.

It’s a wonderful return to form from show favourites, Philadelphia’s very own Godcaster. There’s a new album in the wings which leaves Richard evidently salivating. Jamie’s on board too. And, when paired with West Yorkshire three piece The Lodger and their kitchen sink classic Bewildered even Tobin is convinced. Speaking of whom, he unwittingly sparks a vox-off between Brent Cowles and The James Hunter Six. Looks like Brent is edging into first place.

And then there’s The Bins. What a fantastic and original concept this is. Tobin will tell you more, and there’s talk of a bookend in the next few weeks from The Bins. So until next week, when we’ll welcome the return of Wesley Bennett and Jack Hubbell, dive right in and enjoy.

This week’s playlist

1. You’ve Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two The Zipheads
2. Beijos The Bins
3. High To Low Brent Cowles
4. Hecky Skelters Godcaster
5. Bewildered The Lodger
6. Stranded The James Hunter Six
7. I Don’t Know Enough About You Peggy Lee
8. Revenge The Zipheads

The Zipheads – learn a little bit more

The Zipheads were formed in St Albans around 2005 as a punk band. By that time we had played about 12 gigs and had 8 songs. We then discovered 50s rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly. Secondly, we discovered rockabilly bands from the 80s and 90s such as The Stray Cats, The Living End and the Reverend Horton Heat. We begun playing covers in pubs and social clubs for the next 3 years before recording a six track EP of original material in 2008 and returning to a more punk sound.

We followed that by gigging the London/Southeast rockabilly and punk scenes until self releasing our debut album Prehistoric Beat in 2013. This then led to touring more of the UK and lots of Europe. The natural progression saw us signing with Bomber Music for our second LP Z2:Rampage! This was released in 2016 and did more touring of UK and Europe to support this as well as the US and Russia. In 2018 Bomber re-released Prehistoric Beat with extra tracks and on vinyl for the first time.

Right at the start of lockdown we released a cover of The Clash’s ‘Bankrobber’ as a charity single to raise money for the Joe Strummer Foundation. The Zipheads are currently on a live hiatus until next year. We plan on releasing a single hopefully before the end of the year. This will coincide with an EP to be released in January or February 2022. Finally, we are currently writing album number 3 so watch this space.