The band formed in June 1980 and three months later released their first EP. Entitled Livin' in the '80s, it was a 7" EP released by the band on their home-brew Z-Disc label. Their debut full-length album, Vicious Circle, was released in 1982 with its distinctive bright yellow cover on the local label Nimrod Records. The band embarked on a 1982 "Hell Tour" with one notable appearance at The Barn in Torrance, CA, on a bill with Dead Kennedys, MDC, and Minor Threat. Vicious Circle was reissued on Toxic Shock later in the 1980s, with added bonus tracks taken from the Affirmation Records compilations LPs The Master Tape and The Master Tapes 2. It was reissued again in 2000 by Lookout! Records, without the Master Tape tracks, but with two additional songs from the original album sessions, "She Said Goodbye" and "Slam and Worm", which had been given limited release on a 7" single. The Zero Boys managed to record a handful of tracks intended for a second LP, but broke up before the album could be finished. These tracks were released on the History of the Zero Boys cassette on Affirmation, along with the above-mentioned compilation tracks and other demo tracks and outtakes. In 2009, Secretly Canadian reissued both "Vicious Circle" and "History Of", making the latter available on CD for the first time. Since their breakup, the band has reunited for the occasional gig, including a series of shows at CBGB's designed to raise money to help keep the club open, and a series of shows in 2006 – 2012 where they performed the entire Vicious Circle album. The new lineup consisted of Paul Mahern, Tufty, Mark Cutsinger, and Vess Ruhtenberg of The Lemonheads on guitar as original guitarist Terry "Hollywood" Howe died in 2001. Paul Mahern went on to form the power pop band the Datura Seeds and has since become a producer in Bloomington, Indiana, where he also teaches yoga and owns the Affirmation Records label. In 2012 Vess Ruhtenberg and Tufty left the band just before a European tour. Scott Kellogg and Dave Lawson are their replacements. In February 2013 the new band released an EP titled "Pro Dirt." This was their first release in 20 years. The Zero Boys' new LP, Monkey, was released on May 20, 2014.
