Ngozi Family

45,000 Volts NOW-AGAIN. LP

Bovver-boy aggro from mid-’70s Zambia.

Few countries in Africa adopted rock with more gusto than Zambia, and Now-Again’s searching of the Zamrock archives has uncovered classics that would sound at home among the hairy Brit stoners on Jon Savage’s Rock Dreams

On 45 compilation. Led by Paul Ngozi – felled by AIDS in the 1980s – the Family could adapt traditional rhythms (Timwenge), but at their best (Hold On, with its Sympathy For The Devil bass line, or Nizakupanga Ngozi, six minutes of gonzo madness you need in your life), they straddled hard rock, glam and proto-punk. Not a blend that was likely to make waves abroad, sadly, and the final mixes reduced the sonic punch of House Of Fear and Every Thing Is Over, but had they been living in a west London squat, their place in history would have been assured.