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Thee Hellfire Club

Alpaca Brothers

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.

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King Loser

Led by the dynamic duo of Celia Mancini and Chris Heazlewood, New Zealand’s surf and noise guitar gods King Loser were one of the best local groups for much of the 1990’s with 3 terrific albums and a handful of singles and bootleg releases before their split in 1997.

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'Hey Creep' 7" single cover by Rob Haakman

Snort

Hugely popular Christchurch hard-rock all-girl group with a very 90’s riotgrrrl sound and a line-up that changed quite a bit over time. Members have included: Reta Le Quesne, twins Joanne and Sharon Billesdon, Lisa Preston, Fleur Walden Ninakaye Taane-Tinorau and Carla Rotta .

They recorded 2 singles, then had an album and a music video held back by Festival Records in nefarious circumstances.

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Nux Vomica

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

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