No Grammys and glitz for Z.O.W.I.E., thank you. First off, it would blow the band's cover. Secondly, judging from its retro surf-spy sound, this trio of secret agents would much rather live forever inside the opening credits of "From Russia With Love."

     Z.O.W.I.E., which stands for Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage, has shaken and stirred audiences all around the longitudinal coordinates of Pittsburgh. Their lightning-fingered instrumental originals, such as "Our Man In Cairo," can transport even the squarest listener to 007th heaven.

     Goldfingered guitarist Agent 71857 wears Man from U.N.C.L.E. black turtlenecks and comes armed with an attache case of tremolo minor chords. Keyboard player Dava transmits coded messages on her organ, while bassist Zhi-Zhi, outfitted in poison-tipped go-go boots, is one femme Nikita.

     Their fourth member was killed on assignment in Malta. He was reincaranted by Z.O.W.I.E. lab technicians as E.D.D. when his salvageable body parts were incorporated into a digital drum machine.

     Agent 71857, who started the band with Dava about a year ago, would like to tell you the secret of Z.O.W.I.E.'s sound. But then he'd have to kill you. "We like to call it action music. It's very influenced by television themes from the '50s and '60s," says Agent 71857.

     Z.O.W.I.E. is in it strictly for the martinis and Ferraris. If they don't sell a million copies, well, you only live twice. "We really just want to get up and play and have people have fun," 71857 says. "We want to play music that makes people feel cooler than they actually are." Zhi-Zhi seconds that. Success isn't measured in limos and entourages, she says, but in the sheer buzz you get when the sound comes together and the gig takes off like a black market Stinger missile. "The underlying thing that's necessary for a band to be successful is that everybody is having a good time,"

    "America's Hippest Swank-a-delic Spy Rock Combo" has just completed a six-song EP. The members hope audiences will dig really sharp tunes such as "Siberan Express" and "Napoleon Complex." They are planning a full-length release, "la vie dangereuse" due later this summer.
 

                                                                                                                                                             - William Loeffler

(Excerpted from the article "Flying Beneath the Radar" from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, February 2, 2001)