While I may be bias since I live in Ohio, the Midwest has had one of the strongest punk scenes in the country for several decades now. From bygone punk legends like Husker Du, Naked Raygun, and The Replacements to current legends like Dillinger Four and Lawrence Arms the region has always been able to produce solid acts. More recent bands, like The ZG’s who call Cincinnati home are a sign this region isn’t going to stop producing solid punk music anytime soon.

One thing several of the Midwest’s most memorable bands have been known for, is their ability to write punk music that is laden with hooks but isn’t so poppy that it becomes intolerable. On “Music Makers,” the opener off their self-titled album, the band keeps this tradition going. With a chorus that borrows a line from Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka the refrain of “We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams. We’ll do this for the rest of our lives. We will find the means,” the band sucks you in with a great vocal hook. The song also serves as an autobiographical intro of sorts, as it moves from working a job you hate, to starting a band, and then just being happy that you have friends that enjoy the music you make. While it doesn’t break new ground musically or topically, there’s sincerity in the vocals of front man Ryan Zentay that will make the song a quick favorite.

On “Used to Be” another standout feature of this band comes to the forefront, the resoundingly positive outlook in their lyrics. When I say positivity, I am not talking about songs where the lyrics are about how everything in the world is perfect. But, rather an attempt to not let the downsides of life be such a dominating factor that your worldview dips into the pitfalls of nihilism. While the song laments a loss of friend to drugs and alcohol, it wonders if there’s still hope for them and if they still remember who they were prior to that. While drug abuse, specifically opiates, are an enormous issue everywhere in the country. Living in Southwestern Ohio, it seems like there are more overdoses than there are days on the calendar and everyone knows someone who’s either had one or might be heading that direction.

While the band does get political on tracks like “Bend or Break,” “Obamaphone,” and “Lies” they never launch delve into the, at times, troublesome sloganeering many bands engage in. Instead the band focuses on the confusion, self-reflection, and necessary personal growth that come with living in a world filled with things you don’t agree with but at the same time have little to no idea how to start enacting change in. Which, for anyone who has lived in the Midwest, really hits home since no matter how progressive you and many of your friends may be, there’s always those people around you who may share your views but aren’t as willing to stand up and say it.

Musically, the band gives plenty of nods to mid-nineties pop-punk, with a little bit of an 80’s Orange County flair thrown in for good measure. While there are several moments where the band’s songs don’t seem to differ much from one another, the musical abilities of this band are quite obvious. They have an understanding of the importance of dynamics, that certain elements of songs need to support others, and the importance of crafting melodies and vocal harmonies. This is one of the most important things any band can understand, because too many songs that at their roots are great can be destroyed by a band that doesn’t understand the importance of each instrument’s voice in said song. The ZG’s having an understanding of this, is going to allow them to be even more prolific as they grow and mature as songwriters and as a band.