The Ziggens

Known for their eccentric, goofy, and humorous fusion of punk with surf rock—sometimes carrying a distinct country tinge—the Ziggens never became a major force in rock yet maintained a devoted cult audience from the early 1990s onward. Always rooted in Orange County, California, just south of Los Angeles, a fitting locale for surf-rock enthusiasts, the band drew on a wide array of influences spanning multiple decades. They embraced 1960s surf acts such as the Ventures, Jan & Dean, and the Beach Boys, and were even likened to Annette Funicello, yet their sound never amounted to a strict revival of Lyndon Johnson-era artists; instead, it also reflected the raw energy of 1970s and 1980s old-school punk. The group’s lineup featured founder and leader Bert Susanka, also known as Bert Ziggen, handling lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Jon Poutney, aka Jon Ziggen, on bass, Dickie Ziggen on lead guitar, and Brad Conyers, aka Brad Ziggen, on drums and backing vocals. The Ziggens consistently avoided self-seriousness, aligning instead with punk’s playful and lighthearted dimension, which placed them closer to the Ramones and the Dickies than to the politically charged militancy of the Sex Pistols, the Dead Kennedys, the Clash, or early T.S.O.L.—the latter of which later shifted toward heavy metal in the vein of AC/DC, Accept, and Dokken. The Ramones’ performances of “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” and “Rockaway Beach,” or the Dickies’ raucous delivery of the absurd “You Drive Me Ape, You Big Gorilla,” exemplify the wacky, absurdist punk style that shaped the Ziggens. When country elements surfaced in their work, the results evoked rockabilly and classic honky tonk rather than polished countrypolitan or glossy country-pop, suggesting greater affinity for Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Merle Haggard than for Kathy Mattea or Trisha Yearwood.

Formed in 1990, the Ziggens issued multiple albums throughout the 1990s and early 2000s while recording for the Skunk and Cornerstone labels. In 2003 Cornerstone put out the band-compiled best-of anthology Greatest Zits: 1990-2003, a collection spanning thirteen years.