Before Dimmer, before Straitjacket Fits, before even the Doublehappys, Shayne Carter was in a Flying Nun Records-type punk band called Bored Games, who opened for the likes of the Clean and Toy Love before the lads had even left high school.
Studio-based five piece funk outfit formed in Christchurch by Nava Thomas (aka Confucius / Soul Providah) and Ariel White, and featuring contributions from erstwhile members in Melbourne and all over the globe, the band did play locally in the late 90s, reforming with the release of their debut album in early 2004.
Desperate Measures were Christchurch’s answer to pop punk, a couple of years after the whole Sex Pistol thing, but they were fun and had a few good songs for all the punk posturing. They had a reasonably heavy following, or it seemed so at the time.
– Rob Mayes
The very wayward guitar/electronics duo that eventually gave birth to Birchville Cat Motel.
Beguiling atonal plonkery and profound multi-stringed shingle slides by two irrepressible young guns utterly oblivious to the fact that most people wanted to stone them to death with spare change. I can’t believe we did this in public.
Not to be confused with the Auckland punk venue of the late 70s, or the Suburban Reptiles song of the same name, Coup D’Etat were a tight trouser new wave outfit of the early 80s formed by Hello Sailor’s Harry Lyon.
Well-remembered for their catchy upstroke white-boy reggae-lite single ‘Doctor I like your medicine’ which got to number 9 on the NZ charts in 1981.
Paul Solly is one of a handful of mysterious individuals (along with Matt Lee, Lissa Mitchell and Douglas Bagnall), possibly all part of Fever Hospital that released a handful of lathe-cut singles on their own 8 Dec Records imprint, to startlingly low-key but enthusiastic acclaim.
Auckland trio Drill were formed in 1989, featured on the 1st ‘Freak the Sheep’ (bFM Kiwi radio station) compilation, put out the single ‘Happy Home’ and a self-titled album -all on Flying Nun Records in the mid 1990’s. The songs were collected from sessions going right back to 1990.
One of the lesser-known Flying Nun Records releases, young singer-songwriter Nick Smith put out a largely unremembered EP on the label in 1987 after appearing on the ‘Outnumbered by Sheep’ compilation.
He also recorded a preceding EP (with the help of Chris Knox), released on record store Real Groovy Records own imprint back in 1986.
Smith would go on to have a successful career as a journalist.
With the Mint Chicks breaking up in 2010 and Ruban Nielson going on to find success with Unknown Mortal Orchestra, former Mint Chicks vocalist Kody Nielson started recording new material as Opossom. The material seems to follow a fairly tight neo-psych-pop template popularized by the likes of Tame Impala and UMD, bouncy and catchy without setting the world on fire.
One off x-mas theme side-project (joke release?) from Toy Love’s Chris Knox and his soundman cohort Doug Hood (who both lived in Jessel Street in Grey Lynn, Auckland) featuring their partners Barbara Ward and Carol Hood. Sometimes credited to David Kilgour and Martin Phillips too.
Though lasting just 18 months, Toy Love were one of New Zealand’s most influential groups. Chris Knox, Alec Bathgate and Mike Dooley had come from The Enemy were joined by the Christchurch duo of Paul Kean and Kate Walker to form the most brilliantly dynamic new wave group.
Wonderful home-brewed recordings from Annabelle Alpers. Guitarist, keyboardist and singer-songwriter formerly of the supremely under-recognized Christchurch troop Hawaii Five-0. Her solo recordings are infused with electronic flourishes and wispy, emotive lyrics – but with a distinct and almost robotic approach to harmonic vocals.
Shaft is the long-standing vehicle of prominent song-writer Bob Cardy (aka Bob Brannigan), guitarist for the Axemen and a stalwart of the New Zealand underground scene. With a rotating cast of musicians backing him, Shaft always sounds like Shaft; a terrific band brimming with brilliant, dynamic and catchy songs.
Raucous Wellington rock’n’roll in the retro-revival vein formed by Matt Harrop, Phil Smiley, Pip Brown (aka Ladyhawke), and Ben Fraser in 2001.
The group had a few self-released EPs and a 7″ single which saw some radio play in the UK, but the group broke up on the eve of what would have been their first US tour.
An offshoot of Mobile Stud Unit, but with more serious intentions, The Nerve released a CD ‘Gobby’ in October 1995. The Nerve were Jamie Stone (guitar, vocals, synth, bass, slide guitar), Jocko Ellis (guitar, vocals), Jude Richards (bass, vocals) and Jamie Low (drums). They also have one song, Fat little fucker, on the Green Eggs and Hamilton compilation. The Nerve won the Contact 89FM Battle of the Bands in 1997. Jamie Stone went on to form Trucker.