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Artists

Luge

Manic Christchurch outfit based around the extreme bass guitar talents of (apprentice Wizard) Ari Freeman, with drumming by Andrew Robins, piccolo bass by Andrew Moore and the junk percussion of Mike Fordham (original member Adrian Currie moved to Wellington in 2002). Released an EP before moving on to other groups.

#nzmusic #luge #arifreeman

Putty in Her Hands

Poppy post-punk from Charlotte Yates and Christine Jeffs (now a movie director). Released an EP, expanded to a 6-piece band featuring Jackie Clarke on additional vocals, then split in 1990 with Yates going on to record her own solo material.

3nzmusic #puttyinherhands #charlotteyates

Solatudes

New-wave pop / post-punk group from early 1980’s Christchurch, featuring future Wastrels front-man Anton Jenner. Recently got their sole 7″ single reissued on Leather Jacket Records.

#nzmusic #solatudes #thewastrels

The Strange Girls

Fantastic folky lo-fi group from Dunedin from the super-prolific Clayton Noone and ex-Ho’ Dogs guitarist Kaaterama Morehu – who sadly passed away in 2020.

“At their best, The Strange Girls made ruminative, repetitive and atmospheric bummer folk”

#nzmusic #thestrangegirls #undergorundmusic

Warble

Warble was a High School aged post-rock group formed by (future stand-up comedian and author) Eamonn Marra and Jack Hooker, with the intent to enter Smoke-Free Rock Quest in 2008.

Joined by drummer James Woods (who had previously appeared alongside Hooker in We Will Fight You), violinist Clare Fryer and (initially) Valentine Nixon – though the Purple Pilgrims vocalist left before Warble had started recording their sole EP, which they put out on BandCamp in 2009.

#nzmusic #warble #purplepilgrims

Cloudboy

Excellent Dunedin dream-pop group Cloudboy are reuniting for a national tour after more than 20 years away. What better time than to revisit their band profile!

Formed as a side-project by 3 members of the Dunedin art-pop collective Mink – Cloudboy put out an EP, a couple singles and a terrific album back int he late 1990’s / early 2000s before vocalist Demarnia Lloyd started producing her own solo material.

See UTR for tickets

#nzmusic #cloudboy

Ansi

Biography Haunting improvised soundscapes of dueling bass and guitar with brief smatterings of samples thrown in at just the right moments. Sumac Records Members Discography Links

The Sweethearts

Adam McGrath’s early 2000’s attempt at a vocally-driven song-writing group after years of playing in punk and hard core groups – featured a teenage William Daymond; essentially a pre-cursor to the Eastern. Put out an album that went unnoticed.

#nzmusic #thesweethearts #adammcgrath #theeastern

Constant Pain

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

The International Telepaths

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

The Wastrels

The Wastrels were an early 1980’s Christchurch 4-piece pop-rock group who were touted as the ‘Next Big Thing’, but never kicked on to wider success, with just a single and an EP to their name.

#nzmusic #thewastrels

Crackhouse 5

Wellington ‘self-aware white-boy scenester rap’ crew. Primarily with 3 vocalists, but with occasional appearances from fellow Wellington-based rapper Tommy Ill and others. Taking queues from early Beastie Boys the crew are very much party focused.

The group formed as a sideline to Holiday with Friends while the main trio were recording fellow Wellington rap act Tommy Ill’s debut album.

#nzmusic #crackhouse5 #holidaywithfriends #tommyill

The Jewl of Bessamoocho

One of the first bands to release a single on the small pop-punk Pink Air / Girl Alliance label, which sprung up in the late 90’s, releasing catchy 7″ singles from a series of Auckland punky outfits.

Full of Riot Grrrl attitude and cool vocals from Japanese Vocalist Eri Miyabayashi.

#nzmusic #thejewlofmessamoocho #therevengers

The Side Effects

Mysterious surf-guitar out of the Whanganui-Manawatu region on the famed Stink Magnetic label and featuring label regulars Dylan Herkes and Boss Christ.

#nzmusic #surfmusic #thesideeffects #thechandeliers

Gate

The mostly-solo recordings of The Dead C’s Michael Morley. From noise, destructive guitar in the late 1980’s and 1990’s through sampling diversions and drones in the 2020’s, Morley has been a particularly creative force.

#nzmusic #undergroundmusic #gate #michaelmorley #deadc