Zombie. Bazooka. Patrol. Instantly an image appears. It’s like Patton Oswalt’s comment on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. You almost don’t need to see the movie because one instantly begins to play in your mind upon hearing the words.

When it comes to The ZBP, the reality was far stranger and more wonderful than shock value synesthesia. Unlike their high-concept, B-horror predecessors Man or Astroman?, the story is far less sinister. They trade in world domination for underdog heroism. Rather than surf nihilism, The Zombie Bazooka Patrol engineers its own post-twee freak folk virus and infects us just enough to want to root for the undead.

A fevered voice beckons, “Attention! Ladies and gentlemen, prepare your earholes. In 2024, a band of robots captured The ZBP with the express purpose of enslaving humanity. This is The Zombie Bazooka Patrol at the Center of the Earth!” And so begins the most musically satisfying bout in the age-old, four-way battle royale orchestrated by fanboys the world over between robots, zombies, ninjas and/or pirates.

Ok, that’s probably enough. I’m not really sure how important the whole “Zombie” concept is to these guys. Nevertheless, At the Center of the Earth stands up among any Elephant Six proto-twee and is a lot more than the rehashing of an Athens, Ga., fakebook.

Rather than drawing upon the complexity of multi-tracked psychedelia, The ZBP traps its hooks in simple acoustic arrangements punctuated by rhythmic precision and (possibly) an undead Joe Strummer on electric guitar. With intact brainstems or no, they know a lot about how to write a great pop song. Even with some off-putting subject matter, the music is endearing enough to win over the unbelievers. Plus you can get this record for free if you simply attend their show dressed as a zombie-easily the best reason to shred an old t-shirt and put on greasepaint I can think of.