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.
Drug Free Youth
Zero Boys Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gracious tempest in the sea
Your love is like a storm
Let this tide of mercy rain
Let it flood my heart again
Surround me like an ocean
Surging like a raging sea
Immerse me in the wonder of Your love
A downpour of unending grace
Consuming all my reckless ways,
My sins submerged
Your love has saved my soul
Your love is like a storm
Your love is crashing over me
It′s surging like a raging sea
Immerse me in the wonder of Your love
A downpour of unending grace
Consuming all my reckless ways,
My sins submerged
Your love has saved my soul
Your love is like a storm
Your love is like a storm
Your love is like a storm
Your love is like a storm
The lyrics of this song, "Drug Free Youth" by Zero Boys, are not overtly related to the topic of the title. Rather, it is a Christian song that speaks of the overwhelming power of love, specifically God's love, in the singer's life. The lyrics use metaphorical language to describe the intensity of this love, comparing it to a "gracious tempest in the sea" and a "surging, raging sea" that is crashing over the singer. The love is transformative and purifying, "consuming all my reckless ways" and submerging the singer's sins. The song ends with a repetition of the refrain "Your love is like a storm", emphasizing the almost overwhelming power of this love.
In a larger sense, the song can be seen as a testament to the transformative power of religious faith. The singer has been saved by God's love, which has washed away their sins and changed their life. The storm imagery used throughout the song emphasizes the dramatic and intense nature of this transformation.
Line by Line Meaning
Your love towers over me
The magnitude of your love is beyond measure and it overwhelms me.
Gracious tempest in the sea
Your love is like a storm, yet it is full of kindness and benevolence.
Your love is like a storm
Your love is powerful and intense, like a storm.
Let this tide of mercy rain
Let your abundant mercy pour down upon me like a tide of rain.
Let it flood my heart again
Allow your love to fill my heart to overflowing, as it has done many times before.
Surround me like an ocean
Embrace me with your love, like the vastness of the ocean surrounding me.
Your love is crashing over me
Your love engulfs me completely, like a wave crashing over me.
Surging like a raging sea
Your love is powerful and overwhelming, like the intensity of a raging sea.
Immerse me in the wonder of Your love
Allow me to be fully engulfed in the amazing wonder of your love.
A downpour of unending grace
Your grace rains down upon me continuously, and never runs dry.
Consuming all my reckless ways,
Your love is so powerful that it has the ability to consume and eradicate all of my negative impulses and actions.
My sins submerged
All of my sins have been washed away by your love.
Your love has saved my soul
Your love has redeemed and saved my soul from destruction.
Your love is like a storm
Once again, your love is powerful and intense, like a storm.
Your love is like a storm
Once again, your love is powerful and intense, like a storm.
Your love is like a storm
Once again, your love is powerful and intense, like a storm.
Writer(s): Terry A Howe
Contributed by Anna Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.