Pushups

Reviews

Pushups Empty Faces / Global Corporation 7″ reissue

As the extraterrestrial glam rockers ZOLAR X began to implode in 1979, two of its members, Ed Dorn and Zory Zenith, split off to form the synthy power pop band AURORA PUSHUPS. After releasing just one 7”, Zory exited the band, and Ed carried on, rebranding as PUSHUPS. What we have here is a reissue of that iteration of the band’s sole release brought to us by the Italian budget label Breakout. It’s two tracks of glammy new wave pop—imagine a mix of GARY NUMAN, MILK ‘N’ COOKIES, and, well, ZOLAR X. It’s fun stuff, for sure, and it probably would have been an essential pick-up had HoZac not released a compilation of the band’s complete recordings just a year or so back. Still, you certainly could find worse ways to spend your money.

Pushups Pushups is Pop (1978–80 Archival) LP

PUSHUPS evolved from AURORA PUSHUPS, who themselves were something of a continuation of ZOLAR X. This previously unreleased debut LP takes the new wave sensibilities but sheds the sci-fi weirdness for an unabashed pop direction. The end result is eight tracks of some of the sharpest, catchiest power pop you’re likely to hear. It’s great—song after song is a bona fide shoulda-been hit, but with the two slightly demented tracks from the AURORA PUSHUPS “Angels on Runway One / Victims of Terrorism” single tacked on at the end (with all their art-punk fizz), it’s hard not to think that something was lost along the way…