The Great Unwashed were a quieter, folkier edition of The Clean, a contrast to their raucous earlier sound. Peter Gutteridge’s contributions to their song-book should not be understated, with ‘Born in the wrong time’ an absolute classic.
#nzmusic #greatunwashed #theclean
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
‘Various Outakes’ is one Of Robert Scott’s many one-off releases on his own Every Secret Thing label.
Recorded in a typically DIY fashion and released straight to cassette in 1989, the album features a stellar band line-up – Dave Saunders just arrived in Dunedin and yet to mark his mark in The 3Ds, Australian guitarist / vocalist Ken Stewart, Peter Gutteridge – just about to reach his creative zenith with his solo release ‘Pure’, and the ever-busy (and Gutteridge’s Snapper bandmate) Alan Haig on the kid.
#nzmusic #mrbignose
Look Blue Go Purple was an influential and resilient all-female indie-pop group from Dunedin during the Early-Mid 1980s. Despite facing chauvinistic attitudes, they released 3 stellar EPs on Flying Nun, with their debut ‘Bewitched’ reaching No. 21 on the pop chart. Their impact endures through the compilation ‘Still Bewitched’.
#nzmusic #lookbluegopurple
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.
Nux Vomica were a punky underground-rock group from mid-1980’s Christchurch featuring snotty, ranting vocals from Lawrence Kennett (aka Lawrence Lens), driving bass from Phillip Hubbard, and a young Lisa Preston on her Yamaha Electone keyboard.
The group played regularly and toured with The Axemen (Lawrence was responsible for a lot of their Super 8 films), with saxophonist Alan Wright playing double-duty in both bands at the time.
#nzmusic #nuxvomica #theaxemen #theportage
The Portage was a 2-piece group featuring Nux Vomica’s Lawrence Kennett and Lisa Preston, after the earlier groups demise in the mid 1980’s. The released a single rare EP in 1988, due to be reissued in an expanded format by Leather Jacket Records.
#nzmusic #theportage #nuxvomica #leatherjacketrecords
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
The Cartilage Family were a short-lived Dunedin group featuring Peter Gutteridge (and a bunch of his best early songs), Shayne Carter, Lesley Paris and Francisca Griffin. No official recordings exist and they only performed live twice; but the Cartilage Family were an important stepping stone for New Zealand Music.
Christchurch trio fronted by The Puddle’s Norman Dufty. Urgent, shuffling indie-rock, with warbly vocals (part Morrissey, part Stephen Cogle) and the occasional clarinet (from Dave Woods) sneaking through.
Onset/Offset Records founder Campbell McLay (bass) and Donna Lawson (drums) complete the trio; who released an LP split with Lawson’s other group Junkanoo in 1986, then followed it up with a couple cassettes in 1987.
Thanks to German label Unwucht re-issuing a heap of old Onset/Offset releases their appearance on the Krypton Ten compilation is now (slightly) more accessible.
Christchurch-based punky proto-grunge outfit that formed after the dissolution of Ian Blenkinsop’s Drowning Is Easy, a 4-piece that featured Blenkinsop along with future Scorched Earth Policy band-mate Mick Elborado, Craig Davison and Andrew Valance. Noted rock music historian George Churton would replace Elborado on bass and eventually become the lead vocalist.
The key group of New Zealand underground legend Peter Gutteridge (despite being a founding member of BOTH the Clean and the Chills). Snapper made driving, droning guitars-infused with synths post-punk throughout the 1980s and 1990s before Gutteridge disappeared from the public eye.
The And Band were an outgrowth of influential but undiscovered Wellington punk-oddities The Spies. When feed up with the limitations of the Wellington scene, the band, along with several of their friends relocated to a small Christchurch flat, sharing a recording space (and the actual 4-track) with Perfect Strangers.
The Clean have left a giant stamp on New Zealand Independent Music. The group that came to define ‘The Dunedin Sound’ had a terrific topsy-turvy career that spanned 5 albums and a number of EPs, singles, compilations and live releases over a 31 year time-span.
My review of ‘Compilation’, the original retrospective of The Clean’s first phase releases. 2 singles and 2 EPs crammed into a brilliant album.