The Ziggens
(Cornerstone R.A.S.)
by Ewan Wadharmi
You got one guy named Dickie who looks like but doesn’t sound like the Bosstones’ Dickie. Then there’s a dead ringer for Buddy Hackett (no pun intended, R.I.P.). The impersonations go on in the music as well. “Debutante” is a mildly funny rip-off of Green Day’s “Basket Case,” while “Just the Way You Aren’t” brings back ’70s gubble-bummers Bay City Rollers. “Pistol Pete” is a weepy tribute to NBA legend Pete Maravich. More tragic than Pete’s demise is this hippie Spin Doctors send-up. “Rincon” is an after-surf sunbathing tune as interesting as watching Endless Summer. Every other song or so, The Ziggens show a sense of humor that never gets fleshed out. Like a Saturday Night Live sketch, “I Get Yelled at a Lot” starts with a promising premise that goes nowhere. Same song, second verse for “Plastic Surgery.” The exception is the big image of “The Man With the Pushed in Face,” which has more humor than just the title, “My sister finds him handsome in a Kojak sort of way/He’s sleepy and he’s haggard/like that chick in ‘Maggie May’.” But the “Rock Lobster” riff is gimmicky.
(2691 Dow Ave. #C-2 Tustin, CA 92780)