Biography
Features formed in late 1979 in Auckland, led by Jed Town (guitar) and James Pinker (drums), both former members of The Superettes. When Paul Kean left The Superettes to join Toy Love, Town and Pinker recruited Karel Van Bergen (vocals, ex-Primmers) and Chris Orange (bass, ex-Terrorways) to complete the lineup.
Drawing from Public Image Ltd, Wire, the emerging New York no-wave movement, and late-period Beatles, Features offered a far more experimental and jagged sound than most of their peers. They were instantly popular, drawing strong crowds at Liberty Stage, XS Café, and Rock HQ, though they found themselves unwelcome at more traditional venues like Mainstreet and The Gluepot, partially because of their strong boot-boy following.
There was nothing ‘punk’ about The Features really.
Simon Grigg, The Spinoff
The band recorded the City Scenes EP at Mascot Studios in early April 1980 for the new Propeller label. The title track featured distinctive arrangements that snapped from chatter to guitar discord and stray beats, offering a radical structure that was both inventive and unsettling. The single reached No. 32 in the New Zealand charts in June 1980 and remained charted for five weeks.
We changed their thinking about punk music and set them on another course.
James Pinker, The Spinoff
The band embarked on a national tour in June 1980 and continued performing through mid-year. In December 1980, they released The Perfect Features Exposed, a limited edition 12-inch EP featuring four songs from Harlequin Studios sessions. Jed Town left for Sydney in September 1980, effectively ending the band after just one year of existence.
Despite their brief lifespan, Features were perhaps more than any other band the stylistic delineation between punk and post-punk in Auckland. Members went on to various projects including Fetus Productions, SPK, Dead Can Dance, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Band of Holy Joy. Van Bergen died in Munich in 2013. In 2016, Features’ two EPs plus unreleased tracks were reissued by Flying Nun as X Features, with Jed Town and Chris Orange reuniting as The X-Features.
Members
- Karel Van Bergen (vocals, Band Of Holy Joy, Features, Primmers, SPK, The Features)
- Jed Town (fetus productions / vocals / guitar, Features, Fetus Productions, Ghost Town, ICU, Image In Glass, SPK, Superettes, The Features, The Superettes)
- Chris Orange (bass, En Can M.A., Features, Rooter, Terrorways)
- James Pinker (fetus productions / drums, Black Girls Machine, Dead Can Dance, Features, Fetus Productions, Heavenly Bodies, Holiwater Band, Jam This Record, Jesus and Mary Chain, Mesh, SPK, Superettes, The Features, The Superettes)
Discography
- Perfect 7″ single (1980, Propeller Records, REV1)
- The Perfect Features Exposed EP (1980, Propeller Records, REV6)
- X Features compilation (2016, Flying Nun Records)