Since the band's inception, Zs has incarnated as everything from a sextet to a duo, now solidified into the quartet of Patrick Higgins (electric guitar), Greg Fox (percussion), Sam Hillmer (tenor saxophone) and Michael Beharie (electronics).
In July of the same year, the band released Zs, recorded at Westbeth Studios, in New York City, consisting of five tracks primarily written by Alex Mincek and Sam Hillmer, the saxophonists.
In a particularly memorable moment, while listening to the opening notes of "Woodworking", Stern stated, "it's mood music... if you're in a mental home," later asking, "Do they write this stuff down?
By the end, Stern and his cast had decided to form their own faux-avant-garde ensemble, and talked about trying to open for Zs' upcoming Knitting Factory performance.
The same year, The Hard EP was released by Three One G, and received critical acclaim, with Chris Sabbath of the San Francisco Bay Guardian writing, "Zs excels with high marks across the board... each member vents ballistic impulses into one giant movement of astounding precision.
In early 2010, Zs made their first excursion through the southern states of the US, culminating in ten performances at Austin's South By Southwest Festival.
In the spring of 2012, guitarist/composer Patrick Higgins and drummer Greg Fox joined Hillmer, establishing the core trio of Zs' recent period.
This was followed by the GRAIN EP in April 2013, in which Patrick Higgins and Greg Fox developed experimental electronic music compositions using source recordings of previous incarnations of the ensemble.
"[12] Music critic Sasha Frere-Jones named Xe one of the best records of 2015, giving it his highest mark in an article for the Los Angeles Times in December 2015.
[14] In 2016, the SF MOMA acquired the album and artwork of Xe for its permanent collection, displaying the full set of Auerbach's works in metal and the record cover, sleeves, and discs at the museum's new building.
Zs latest full-length record, NOTH, was released in February 2018 on the band's SOCIAL NOISE imprint in collaboration with RVNG Intl.