With their garage punk antics of organ soaked drunk rock, The Von Zippers accompany an additional trademark of sporting World War One uniforms from Germany. On top of their Brit-punk influence of The Damned and The Anti-Nowhere League, The Von Zippers debuted this sound outside of their native Calgary with their first mini-album Wow Em Down at Franzl's in 1997. Their follow-up full-length Bad Generation was released two years later, courtesy of Estrus Records; Blitzhacker followed in mid-2000. The VZ's returned to Estrus in July of 2003 with The Crime is Now!, their third full-length.