Their first release, Livin' in the '80s, was a 7" EP released by the band on their home-brew Z-Disc label. Their debut full length album, Vicious Circle, was released in 1982 with its distinctively ugly bright yellow cover on the local label Nimrod Records. Many punk fans nationwide were surprised to find a band like the Zero Boys coming out of the Midwest rather than from the larger and more established scenes in and around Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York City and elsewhere. Vicious Circle was reissued on Toxic Shock later in the 1980s, with added bonus tracks taken from the Affirmation Records compilations LPs The Master Tape and The Master Tapes 2. It was reissued again in 2000 by Lookout! Records, without the Master Tape tracks, but with two additional songs from the original album sessions, "She Said Goodbye" and "Slam and Worm", which had been given limited release on a 7" single.
It has occasionally been reported that the band never recorded further material after this. This is true only in the sense that the lineup of the band that made Vicious Circle never recorded new material. After David Clough left the band to join Toxic Reasons, the Zero Boys did manage to record a handful of tracks intended for a second LP, but broke up before the album could be finished. These tracks were released on the History of the Zero Boys cassette on Affirmation, along with the above mentioned compilation tracks and other demo tracks and outtakes.
Around 1990, Selfless released a 7" single featuring the Zero Boys on one side and Toxic Reasons on the other. The Zero Boys then reformed with a new bass player and guitarist and recorded two further albums, Make It Stop (released on Germany's Bitzcore label in 1992) and The Heimlich Maneuver (released on Skyclad in 1993.)
In the last couple of years, the band has reunited for the occasional show, such as one of a series of shows at CBGB's designed to raise money to help keep the club open, and a series of shows in the spring and summer of 2006 where they performed the entire Vicious Circle album.
Paul Mahern went on to form the power pop band the Datura Seeds and has since become a producer. He also owns the Affirmation Records label.
Tufty owns a punk clothing store in Indianapolis called future Shock as well as a progressive music bar named Radio Radio.
Bloods Good
Zero Boys Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
We were young and drinking in the park There was nowhere else to go
And you said you always had my back
Oh but how were we to know
And these little things define you
Forever, forever
All this bad blood here
Won't you let it dry?
It's been cold for years
Won't you let it lie?
If we're only ever looking back
We will drive ourselves insane
As the friendship goes resentment grows
We will walk our different ways
But those are the days that bind us
Together, forever
And those little things define us
Forever, forever
All this bad blood here
Won't you let it dry?
It's been cold for years
Won't you let it lie?
I don't wanna hear about the bad blood anymore
I don't wanna hear you talk about it anymore
I don't wanna hear about the bad blood anymore
I don't wanna hear you talk about it anymore
All this bad blood here
Won't you let it dry?
It's been cold for years
Won't you let it lie?
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
The lyrics to the Zero Boys song Bloods Good tell the story of youthful camaraderie and the inevitable distance that grows between friends as time passes. The opening lines set the scene: the singer and their friend were young and drinking in a park, with no particular destination in mind. They had each other's backs, but they couldn't possibly have known what was to come.
The refrain "these are the days that bind you together, forever" speaks to the intense feelings of closeness and solidarity experienced by groups of friends during their youth, when everything seems possible and the future is full of promise. However, the line "and these little things define you forever" suggests that even the small moments of connection and disagreement leave an indelible mark on people, shaping who they are and who they will become.
As the song progresses, the singer acknowledges that not everyone stays close forever. Resentment grows as friendships inevitably change, and people begin to walk different paths. Despite this, the singer looks back on those early days with a sense of nostalgia, recognizing that the friendships formed in youth are often the most significant ones in a person's life.
The repeated refrain "all this bad blood here, won't you let it dry?" suggests that the singer and their friend have experienced some sort of conflict or falling-out, but they are ready to move on and let the past be the past. Ultimately, the song is about the bittersweet nature of growing up and the enduring power of friendship, even as time and distance create inevitable rifts.
Line by Line Meaning
We were young and drinking in the park, there was nowhere else to go
We were a bunch of young folks with not much to do, so we hung out and drank in the park.
And you said you always had my back, oh but how were we to know
You promised to be there for me, but we couldn't have known if that would ever come true.
That these are the days that bind you, together, forever
These moments will be what ties us together for the rest of our lives.
And these little things define you, forever, forever
The small things we do and say will have a big impact on who we are and will be.
All this bad blood here, won't you let it dry?
Can't we just leave all the negativity and disagreements in the past?
It's been cold for years, won't you let it lie?
These issues have been unresolved for so long, can't we just let it rest?
If we're only ever looking back, we will drive ourselves insane
Focusing only on the past will drive us crazy and prevent us from moving forward.
As the friendship goes resentment grows, we will walk our different ways
Our friendship has been tainted with resentment and it's time for us to part ways.
I don't wanna hear about the bad blood anymore, I don't wanna hear you talk about it anymore
I'm tired of hearing about the negativity, can't we just move on from it?
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
These repeated lines reinforce the importance of letting go of the bad blood so we can move on.
Contributed by Reagan O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.