The Alpaca Brothers were a short lived noisy post-punk band from Dunedin formed by Bruce Blucher and Nick Wilkinson in 1984, with a young Steve Cournane soon joining as drummer. The group disbanded after releasing a single EP for Flying Nun, but miraculously resurfaced recently (after a 36 year absence) with a new album.
#nzmusic #alpacabrothers
Led by the dynamic duo of Celia Mancini and Chris Heazlewood, New Zealand’s surf and noise guitar gods King Loser were one of the best local groups for much of the 1990’s with 3 terrific albums and a handful of singles and bootleg releases before their split in 1997.
#nzmusic #kingloser
Say Yes To Apes were a loose, noisy, often sloppy and usually creative Dunedin-then-Christchurch-based underground rock outfit formed by frontman Kevin Smith (several years before his acting career took off), drummer Pat Faigan (aka Duane Zarakov of Space Dust, King Loserand multi-instrumentalist Steve Watson, born out of the earlier Picnic Boys.
The Picnic Boys was a loose collective formed around the core trio of Kevin Smith, Patrick Faigan and Steve Watson (who later became Say Yes to Apes). At Faigan’s behest the various members recorded their own take on ‘experimental’ music to tape, which was later compiled into a handful of cassette releases on the groups TV Eye label in the early 1980s.
#nzmusic #thepicnicboys #sayyestoapes #tveye
Presumably named after a song by notorious cult leading serial killer (and Beach Boys collaborator) Charles Manson. One of Duane Zarakov, Celia Mancini and Brother Love’s many psychedelic rock acts – this time a Christchurch-based group who were around during 1991 (after the demise of The Axel Grinders, but before Space Dust and King Loser) and recorded a single cassette EP.
#nzmusic #undergroundmusic #ceasetoexist #theaxelgrinders #kingloser #spacedust
The Axel Grinders were a hard-edged rock’n’roll group with touch of humour, formed by future King Loser members Celia Patel (aka Celia Mancini), Pat Faigan (Duane Zarakov) and Martin Henderson (Brother Love), with John Markie (John Segovia) and Phil Ascott. Their recordings were finally made freely available in 2014.
#nzmusic #theaxelgrinders #kingloser
Constant Pain were a sadly under-recorded group featuring brilliant underground noisy guitar legends Cameron Bain and Roddy Pain, along with a revolving drummers seat of some of New Zealand’s finest drummers. Walls of wailing feedback and rolling rhythm drive some immense tunes. Both guitarists passed away in the 2010’s.
#nzmusic #constantpain #undergroundmusic #crawlspacereocrds
Lo-fi Garage rock’n’roll duo from Dunedin, circa the early to mid 2000’s. Released an album on guitarist/vocalist Dianne Smith (aka ‘Lucy Lurex’) label and promised a 2nd before promptly disappearing in 2005.
#nzmusic #theinternationaltelepaths
Gas were a 3 piece garage-rock 3 piece from Christchurch, featuring ex-members of The McGoohans, Drowning is Easy and Scorched Earth Policy. Formed in 1995 and ended in 2002.
Short-lived Christchurch punky group from 1981/2, made up of a bunch of English Immigrants still not quite old enough to drink in pubs. The would form a vital cog in the story of Scorched Earth Policy and te Terminals.
The Shallows were a short-lived Christchurch trio fronted by Roy Montgomery in 1985. Backed by Mick Elborado (bass) and Mary Heney (guitar / vocals) the trio recorded and self-released a sole 7″ single over a couple weeks in May, 1985.
The single was the result of a $750 government arts grant – the group laid out their exact expenses on the inside sleeve of the single.
Excellent early Flying Nun band from Christchurch featuring 3 future Terminals (Stapleton, Elborado and Crook).
Some terrific songs that build suspense and tension with galloping drums, rumbling bass and a cacophony of guitar, organ and violin.
Live review of the late-great Peter Gutteridge at Dark Room on March 29th, 2012 and published by the Christchurch Press on April 5th.
The photos I took of Peter were picked up by International Press when he sadly passed away 2 years later.
The scummiest, most rundown, but welcoming and communal venue in Christchurch. Had 2 lives – first as Hex Central (under Squirm’s stewardship) in the mid 1990’s, then as the punk head quarters dubbed The Glory Hole, from 2009 till it’s demise in 2011.
A shambling blues-rock trio of notorious obscurity, driven by the sheer creative talent of Bill Vosburgh – they split a 12″ EP with The And Band – who shared member Mark Thomas.