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July 05, 2006
Retrohump Day - Kiwi Rock
The thing with being an obsessive music type, is that the need for discovery is pretty insatiable and it leads you to alot of dead ends. Perceived influences half mentioned in magazines, name dropped by smug bassists in interviews, or suggested by all knowing Amazon purchase bots fill the heart with the hope of discovery. More often than not, after securing the object of interest through persistent E Bay auctioneering or eagle eyed crate diving, you're left empty. Something doesn't sound like it was described, or the influence is apparent but a subsequent artist built from a lesser template, or that bassist was just full of shit. The further you go into obscurity, the greater the odds that there's just nothing left to seek out. But, every once in a blue moon, you stumble across a band that not only exceeds your expectations but leads you to a vivid scene you never knew existed. Such was my thrilling discovery of the Clean a few years ago, and the gateway they provided to the monumental indie rock of New Zealand in the early eighties.
Now, the hipper than moi among you might be rolling your eyes in psychic premonition as I type but damned if I'd ever heard much of anything about rock coming from hobbit land ever, until some random R.I.Y.L. piqued my interest. Although I'd embraced the output from late 80's-early 90's canon fodder bands like Sonic Youth, Pavement, and Yo La Tengo with open arms by the time I got to college, I'm not old enough or shameless enough to claim that I was pouring over hip mags at age eleven when these particular Kiwi names might have been dropped by my soon to be heroes.
But those reverse references make perfect sense once you dive into the scene's output. When most of the globe was staggering away from punk's warning shot twisted and seeking to amp up the darkness and experimentation, the kind hillfolk of New Zealand, through their fledgling Flying Nun Records, were making crisp D.I.Y. rock songs with an emphasis on song writing, melody, brains, and fun. Basically everything you ever wanted from your indie rock. In 1981. Before college radio lit a beacon from the American underground, there were just a bunch of bored ass kids who dared to dream that maybe they could get on the radio in Sydney.
If you're already well aware, the magic of YouTube can help put some faces to the hits, if this is your first foray, you're in for a treat.
the Clean - "Tally Ho!"
The Clean, for me, have quickly developed into one of my all time classic rock bands. They have the simple catchy charm of early Rolling Stones records, with the three chord primitivism of VU, and the "fuck production, let go" enthusiasm of all the would be garage stars of note. This track, recorded in 1981 and put out as the second single on Flying Nun, shot to #19 on the NZ national chart on the back of an infectious hook and a unforgettable organ sound. With this small measure of success, the floodgates were open. The video is obviously super low rent, but it does capture a bit of the giddy kinetic power of the song.
The Clean have been absent from most of the "Best Albums of the Eighties" type discussions because all of their best work was put out on a series of EP's due to the then prohibitive cost of production. Merge Records put out an invaluable double disc compilation called Anthology in 2003, gathering nealry all of this material, plus cherry picked songs from their eventual progression to full lengths. I implore you to track it down, whether by Amazon, iTunes, or hip metropolitan record store as soon as possible.
"Tally Ho!" - mp3
the Verlaines - "Death and the Maiden"
The Verlaines were named for the Rimbaud lovin' poet and not the Television frontman as you might expect. Most of their output is sadly out of print, and a quick look at Amazon shows that demand has jacked prices up dependably into the triple digits. God Bless the internet for even giving us a chance to hear this stuff with out going even deeper into hock. This track (from the 1984 Ten O'Clock in the Afternoon EP) has a nice guitar line coupled with the marketing genius of repeating your band name over and over again veiled as literary reference, and a weird carnival music interlude. The video gives us a neat facsimilie of what I imagine the scene to be like, with lots of chums rocking out in an empty warehouse, herky jerky dancing, and copious amounts of fuzzy bunnies.
"Death and the Maiden" - mp3
Tall Dwarfs - "the Brain That Wouldn't Die"
Tall Dwarfs were the undying brainchild of Chris Knox, veteran of straight up punk band the Enemy and the electrified Toy Love, both harbingers to the movement in question. In his third go round, he decided to indulge a more prickly expiremental jones, often pairing primitive non drum percussion with shredded guitar and more conventional vocal melody. Here, we get a fuzzed out energy shake of a single with a suitably murky horror video. The bands later albums, Weeville and Fork Songs were recently rereleased and should be readily available, and while they have their moments, the better bet is the early EP compilation Hello Cruel World for which you'll have to navigate the online import waters.
"the Brain That Wouldn't Die" - mp3
the Chills - "Pink Frost"
(Live on New Zealand television, 1988)
I previously included the proper video for this one in my disappointments post, because it's lousy. This is a better representation unless you like goofy looking dread scarecrows. The song is still a slice of gorgeous melancholy with guitars an equal to early, interesting R.E.M., and no Stipe to contend with. Plus, massive geek points for the vintage Watchmen t-shirt Martin Phillips rocks.
"Pink Frost" - mp3
the Chills - "Satin Doll
(live in Auckland, 1985)
The sound on this one is bad, but the song is good, and I include it for the obvious weird quotient. Kiwis, who are clearly not band members, stalk the stage dressed as aliens from the planet Mad Max, occasionally molesting band members before disappering into what appears to be a mini-fridge. I guess if your isolated sheep country coughed up the first exciting indigenous rock music since the dawn of the form, you might get a little too excited and wig out as well.
"Satin Doll" - mp3
Tags: New Zealand, Flying Nun Records, the Clean, Tall Dwarfs, the Verlaines, the Chills, All Indie Rock Since the Early Eighties
Posted by Jeff Klingman at July 5, 2006 09:20 PM
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