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Space Dust

Scorched Earth Policy

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: Peter Gutteridge

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.

Stink Magnetic

Fantastic DIY record label formed by Dylan Herkes in 1999. Originating in small town Manawatu, Stink Magnetic released hand-made Cassette Tapes by a diverse array of underground New Zealand acts: “NZ garage, surf, Hawaiian industrial, experimental country disco, Spaghetti Western, esoteric trash, rap and stone-age punk bands”.

Crude

The one-man band that is Matt Middleton. Using a variety of instruments (all the usuals along with clarinet and studio buffoonery) Middleton produced a bunch of self-release tapes in the early 90s, before Flying Nun released the Inner City Guitar Perspectives compilation in 1996.

#nzmusic #crude #mattmiddleton

The Palace Of Wisdom

Underground rock’n’roll lifers from Christchurch fronted by enigmatic and sometimes confrontational front-man (and downhill Mountain Bike enthusiast) Andrew ‘Ox’ O’Connell. A long cast of supporting characters and a handful of rough-and-ready recordings – all self-released.

Boxcar Guitars

Biography Very slick and sadly short-lived country-flavored group out of Auckland. With a handful of choice support slots (including Evan Dando, Lambchop and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy), the group quickly rose in profile, before disbanding on the release of their fine… Read More »Boxcar Guitars

The Black Panthers

Biography Late 90’s sleaze rockers out of Christchurch and featuring Garden City rocker extraordinaire Matt Alien (aka Matt Johnson also of The Hi-Tone Destroyers). Made a habit of being even more extreme than The Hi-Tones, with Matt constantly baiting the… Read More »The Black Panthers

The Axemen

A well-known, yet thoroughly underground troop that often swelled in numbers (sometimes up to as many as 10 members in the mid 1980’s). The group have been known for their artistic endeavours as well as their music.

#nzmusic #theaxemen

The Terminals

After a 12-year recorded absense, the Terminals finally return! One of Christchurch’s most-loved underground bands, the Terminal’s have laid dormant, playing one-off shows every year or so since their Flying Nun Records days, but with Brian Crook resurfacing back up… Read More »The Terminals

Brother Love

Biography Fuzzy, bluesy Rock’n’Roll from Martin Henderson, aka Brother Love. Henderson has lent his name to a number of groups (‘The Homebacon Gang’, ‘The Second Hand Emotions’, The Free Association’, His Dark Horses’, ‘His Far Out Space Nuts’ etc), featuring… Read More »Brother Love

Minus Two

Biography Written as ‘-2‘, as the name implies, the Terminals Stephen Cogle (Vocals / Acoustic Guitar), Mick Elborado (Organ) and John Christoffels (Bass) formed Minus Two as a side-project excluding Peter Stapleton and Brian Crook. Apparently most of the songs… Read More »Minus Two

Ape Management

Weird old Christchurch hard/sludge rock act who put out a few releases in the mid to late 90s. Made up of prominent poster artist Rock Hardman, Brother Love, Ken Mexted, Dave Clarke, and a revolving crowd of Bass players.

The Hi-Tone Destroyers

Biography During the mid 90’s, no man represented the Christchurch underground rock movement more than Matt Alien (aka Matt Johnstone). As the leader of blue-revivalists The Black Panthers and his long-surviving scuzz-rockers The Hi-Tone Destroyers Matt was the equivalent of Iggy… Read More »The Hi-Tone Destroyers

Matt Middleton

Biography Matt Middleton (otherwise known as Crude), is a founding member of The Aesthetics and later part of the live Space Dust ensemble. From the mid 1990s till the mid 00’s Middleton was an incredibly productive musician, with a distinct… Read More »Matt Middleton

Voom

Dating way back to the early 80s when still in university, Voom have been the duo of Andrew Buzz Moller and Andrew Mac Mackaskill. It took a heck of a long time before much actually emerged from the band, with… Read More »Voom