Zouns were an English anarchist band formed in 1977 from loose jamming sessions around the Reading area. Originally they were part of the cassette culture movement, releasing material on the Fuck Off Records tape label, and were also involved in the squatting and free festival scene. The name of the band is derived from the old English minced oath "zounds", which is a contraction of "God's wounds" - i.e. the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ - formerly used as a mildly blasphemous oath.