While the band is now famous for their 2017 self-titled album and 2019’s Cry , this early EP holds a mythic status in their discography. The "Zip" refers to the digital file folder traded among audiophiles and collectors.
Cigarettes After Sex's third studio album, (released July 12, 2024), is widely regarded as their most cohesive and personal work to date. Centered on a single four-year relationship, it maintains the band's signature "slowcore" and dream-pop atmosphere while exploring the "bruised beauty" of heartbreak. Critical Consensus Cigarettes After Sex X--39-s Zip
The album blends 1970s and '80s slow-dance pop ballads with signature heavy reverb and Greg Gonzalez's androgynous, hushed vocals. While the band is now famous for their
“Now,” she said, “we stop waiting.” Centered on a single four-year relationship, it maintains
: Bandleader Greg Gonzalez draws heavy inspiration from the slow-dance pop ballads of the 1970s and '80s. The title track, "X's," specifically references the final Bert Stern photographs of Marilyn Monroe , symbolizing a "sweet but dirty" eroticism.
She looked at the zip drive again. No brand. No label. Just that number: 39.