Stream: The Pop Group, ‘Mad Truth’ and ‘Citizen Zombie,’ from their first album in 35 years

Kevin Bronson on February 26th, 2015

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Few reunions of pioneering bands have come further out of left field than the comeback by the Pop Group, who were insurrectionists when they started in the U.K. in the late 1970s and seem to have lost none of their edge all these years later. After re-forming to play a handful of festival dates the past few years, the quartet has made “Citizen Zombie,” their first album in 35 years.The seemingly extemporaneous screeds on “Y,” their 1979 debut, made them among the most-punk of the post-punks, with their mix-and-mismatched styles of primal guitar rock, funk and dub propelling their politicized screeds. They made only two albums the first time around, but they lived on in influence, and have been acknowledged as such by a couple generations of artists. One old devotee was acclaimed producer Paul Epworth (Lorde, FKA Twigs, Adele, and others), who ended up working with original members Mark Stewart, Dan Catsis, Gareth Sager and Bruce Smith on “Citizen Zombie” (released this week via Freaks R Us). Soundtrack to a revolution, and not many of the kids are making those these days.

||| Stream: “Citizen Zombie” and “Mad Truth”