Happy endings

Bored Games 'Who Killed Colonel Mustard' (1982)
Posthumously released, this four-song punk rocker was the result of New Zealanders Shayne Carter (Straightjacket Fits, Dimmer) and Wayne Elsey (Stones, Doublehappys) joining forces with others in the late 70's. Elsey eventually grew bored (pun intended) and Terry Moore (later of The Chills) joined. They recorded this record and then broke up in 1981. Carter and Elsey would again play together in the Doublehappys, before Elsey was killed in a freak train accident.

A great little record. Period.

Dimmer 'Crystalator/Dawn's Coming In' (1995)
New Zealanders: Shayne P Carter, Peter Jefferies, Lou Allison. "Crystalator", an instrumental electro-blender named after a stripper. Its needle-like guitar hook rips paint off walls and the song swings with the rhythmic thunder that made Jefferies his name. "Dawn's Coming In", a sparser ache that breathes up close in your ear. This fits the ultimate rock'n'roll format of seven inch vinyl single too perfectly. The intensity is palpable yet complementary on both sides of the disc. And a classic it is too. - flying nun records

Cool down...

The Chills 'Rolling Moon' (1982) and 'Pink Frost' (1984) 7"s
Two classics from New Zealand's Chills: 'Rolling Moon' starts out gently psyche-poppy before slipping gracefully into noisy abandon on the B-side. "Pink Frost" is truly haunting, a masterpiece! Check out the Chills website for more info.

Unclean

The Great Unwashed 'Singles' 12" (1984)
In between break-ups of their band The Clean, David and Hamish Kilgour wrote and recorded as the Great Unwashed (pun intended). After an LP they added Peter Gutteridge and Ross Humphries for a tour and recorded this EP of twisted lo-fi psyche pop. It turned out that the original packaging of 2 7"s in a plastic sleeve spattered with paint was a bad idea as the vinyl suffered premature wear and surface noise, therefore it was reissued as a 12".

Go Go

Wild Things Volume 2: 16 Monaural Blasts of Wyld Kiwi Garage Pop 1966-1968 (1996)
Another dose of Kiwi garage strum. Read more about NZ 60's bands over here.

Proud scum

AK•79 (1979, 1993)
A vast document of the late 70's New Zealand punk and powerpop scene. Some unmistakable hits here (Scavengers, Marching Girls and Toy Love are my faves), some a little tired after all these years. This CD is an expanded version of the original LP and is well annotated here.

Attack of the Munchies

Tall Dwarfs 'Throw A Sickie' EP (1986)
Their 6th release and one of my faves. Come inside and understand the universality of the Tall Dwarfs odd, handmade, homemade, lo-fidelity din. They always have great record covers and this one is particularly unappealing, sick, if you will...
From the CD liner notes: "Our least loved record. It was recorded very quickly with one of us being pretty ill at any given point, both of us equally debilitated at others. "And Other Kinds" was our second proper studio thing thru which Alec lay moaning in flu-ridden despair. Another couple were finished as Alec drove to the airport. He'd done all his bits, don't panic. We like it. It's under-rated, you finicky bastards."

Most Avid Sonic Spectrum

King Loser 'Sonic Super Free Hi-Fi' (1993)
A frightening cocktail of swinging beats and wild guitar with driving organ to kick things along where they need it most. From surf instrumentals to psychedelia to rawk, King Loser always play the suave cards in the musical deck. - Flying Nun

Skronk!

Heazlewood 'Badge or Medallion?' (1995), 'Introducing the Ron Asheton Club'(1995), 'Surf's Up in Malibu'(1993) 7"s
Skronk is right... Heazlewood churns out lo-fi, noisy musics from some psychedelic futurespace. The rips for 'Surf's Up in Malibu' are appropriated from kiwi tapes (indeed, a fine site). The others are mine. This breed of music will live forever.
"Drawing inspiration from the total holistic, historic and downright hateful world of rock n roll many fingers point willingly to such figures as Lee Hazlewood, Lou Reed, Kenny Rogers, Ron Ashton, Jimi Hendrix., and Dick Dale. Of course Chris has never been to outer space but when he does he will have some songs to play those crazy cats out there."
- Alan Holt

Wyld Ear Piercing Punks

Ear-Piercing Punk - Various Artists (some say 1979, some 1981)
Not what you'd expect seeing the cover, but still no less punk. This is a rip of the vinyl version. This has been released on CD with some of the songs that have appeared on other comps removed. Anyone having the CD willing to share?

In the late 1970s a lot of people mistakenly thought punk rock had been invented by the Sex Pistols. A scheme was hatched to force-feed them some of the real roots, the snarling raw sounds of mid '60s punk, packaged to appeal to current fashions. Thus was born EAR PIERCING PUNK, a double entendre with but one true intention: to prove just how tough the original punk rock actually was. -Bomp




Wild Things Volume One: Wyld Kiwi Garage 1966-1969
Return to a land down under (New Zealand) for some excellent fuzz punkers. More info here. I'm looking for Volume Two of this series, anyone?

Slugbuckethairybreathmonster

Tall Dwarfs 'Slugbuckethairybreathmonster' 12"
I was introduced to New Zealand music through The Chills. I explored more and when I came across this record, it was like nothing I'd ever heard before (or since)... Go buy some more.

Why listen to the Tall Dwarfs, Chris Knox or Alec Bathgate? Why listen to music at all? Their music is incisive, quirky, bizarre, interesting, definitely lo-fi, irresistable and beautiful. It is a cohesive sweet blend of pop and noise. This is the DIY ethic of punk (recorded at home) done well. The quirkiness is apparent in both the lyrics and the sounds themselves. In particular, the use of looped "non-music" or even toy instrument sounds are used to great effect. - Stasis!!