Zabrinski were an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band from

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

and

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales. They formed in the late 1990s and released four albums before splitting up in 2007.Zabrinski Biography
,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, retrieved 1 November 2008 (archived version retrieved 6 December 2009)

History

Misnamed after the 1970 film ''

Zabriskie Point Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 mil ...

'', the band was formed by school friends Matthew Durbridge (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

), Iwan Morgan (electronica/ keyboards), and Gareth Richardson (guitar) in Carmarthen.Stephens, Huw (2007)
Saying goodbye to Zabrinski and packing up lots of new music for my summer hols
, '' Western Mail'', 27 July 2007, retrieved 6 December 2009 They relocated to

and took on further members, Rhun Lenny (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) and Owain Jones (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

).Strong, Martin C. (2003) "The Great Indie Discography", Canongate, Their debut album, ''Screen Memories'' was released on their own Microgram label, and led to a deal with

Ankst Ankst was a Welsh independent record label formed in 1988 at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth by Alun Llwyd, Gruffudd Jones and Emyr Glyn Williams. After a handful of low key cassette releases, the label relocated to Cardiff and became a ...

. In March 2001, the band's Ankst debut, ''Yeti'' was released, described by the ''

South Wales Echo The ''South Wales Echo'' is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Cardiff, Wales and distributed throughout the surrounding area. It has a circulation of 6,026. Background The newspaper was founded in 1884 and was based in Thomson House, C ...

'' as "a collection of 10 tracks just bristling with ambition",Stokes, Alison (2002) "Band takes big steps with Yeti", ''

'', 11 January 2002, p. 38 and the band also recorded a session for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

show.Zabrinski Peel Session details
''Keeping It Peel'',

''Yeti'' drew comparisons with such varied artists as New Order,

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient music, ambi ...

, and

Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals), Derek Brown ...

.Raggett, Ned " ''Yeti'' Review, Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation The same year, they supported

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci Gorky's Zygotic Mynci () were a psychedelic folk and alternative rock band which formed in Carmarthen, Wales, in 1991. The group performed music in both Welsh and English, and they had eight Top 75 singles on the UK Singles Chart during their ...

on their UK tour, and they also toured several times with

Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. For the duration of their professional career, the band consisted of Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), Cian C ...

. They were nominated for three Welsh Music Awards in 2001."Lostprophets to bosh at Welsh Music Awards bash", ''

'', 30 November 2001, p. 42 The band's third album, ''Koala Ko-ordination'' was issued in 2002 now with Kris Jenkins on keyboards, with comparisons again to Flaming Lips, and also to Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci.Raggett, Ned " ''Koala Ko-ordination'' Review, Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation"Friday sounds: New sounds", ''

'', 13 December 2002, p. 36 The album was described as "Very strange. Rather marvellous" by the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'',Cairns, Dan (2003) "On record", ''

'', 12 January 2003 and "a beguiling album that is both smart and warm" by the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

''."CD Round-Up", ''

'', 3 January 2003 The band's last album, ''Ill Gotten Game'' was released in 2005, and was described by the

as "a many faceted work of wonder", but disappointing sales contributed to the band splitting up in 2007.Goodden, Joe (2005) "(deadlink)-->''Ill Gotten Game'' review", BBC
, retrieved 1 November 2008 The band's final performance was at the Gwyl Macs Fest in Carmarthen on 1 September 2007.Allen, Gavin (2007) "Zabrinski's point means no return", ''

'', 30 August 2007 In February 2018, the band tweeted that they will be releasing new music later in the year.

Discography

Albums

*''Screen Memories'' (2000) Microgram *''Yeti'' (2001)

*''Koala Ko-ordination'' (2002) Ankst *''Ill Gotten Game'' (2005) Ankstmusic

Singles

*"Freedom of the Hiway" (2001) Booby Trap *''Executive Decision'' EP

Compilations

*"Celwyddwalt" on ''Kat Vox:A CD To Celebrate 20 Years of timmi-kat ReCoRDS'' (2011) timmi-kat ReCoRDS

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zabrinski Welsh rock music groups Musical groups disestablished in 2007