Weird Creatures From The Musical Underground

This Easter weekend in Auckland there’s only one place to catch good live music. That place is Auckland’s best dual band venues, Whammy and The Wine Cellar. The four-night Boarderline Music Festival is back again for its second year and with an extended liquor license over the Easter period the shows will go late into the night. The line-up of bands is excellent, mixing the genres of folk, electro pop, surf and hardcore (plus many more) to fully express Auckland’s diverse music scene. Here’s a brief preview of some of the bands EMJ recommends you check out.

 Malenky Robot

One of the best hardcore bands in the country, Malenky Robot’s frenetic hardcore punk is super tight and grips your brain like a super conductor. With back and forwards dual vocals from vocalists Joe and Simon, they have a unique style that works better than most other bands in the hardcore scene. Since forming sometime around 2002/2003, they have toured Australia and the USA, as well as numerous tours around New Zealand, playing with such bands as My Disco, Die! Die! Die!, The Mint Chicks and Shooting At Unarmed Men. Their passion to remain independent has seen them release three self-produced EPs, all of which have now sold out.

Malenky Robot- Myspace

 

Golden Axe

 

Dave and Chris’s home made electronic pop music is world famous in Auckland. Choosing to play in dark corners or even out on the side-walk rather than on stage has led to a cult-like following for the strange pair who love to dress up in wigs and ’80’s glam clothing. The pair use entirely self-built instruments and stand behind stacks of keyboards and other electronic gadgetry. A Golden Axe show always requires audience participation, so be prepared to dance. Recently the band has added a fantastic cover of Katey Perry’s song ‘Hot and Cold’ to their repertoire and last year they released a very popular remix of Thought Creature’s ‘Favourite New Machine’. They have t-shirts for sale and a free EP that you can download on their myspace page.

Golden Axe- Myspace

 Golden Axe- Medley: MP3

 

Mr Sterile Assembly

Mr Sterile Assembly has a pedigree that few bands at the festival can only ever dream of. Since founding the project in Wellington in 2002, Mr Sterile has toured the world with an assembly of different musicians that has included up to seven members at any one time. Playing anarchic, political, thrash punk music to audiences across the world,  Mr Sterile Assembly has played shows in Malaysia, Australia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Indonesia and New Zealand. Staunch labourers of the DIY handbook, members of the assembly started the Skirted Records label in 2005 and have since released a number of underground DIY records. The band released an album titled Hulagu in 2005 and an EP titled 15 Minute Crib in 2006; both can be downloaded for free from the Skirted Records website.

Mr Sterile Assembly- Myspace

Mr Sterile Assembly- The Fate Of Mr P: MP3

 

Hollow Grinders

Self-described as “The best surf band in the Southern Hemisphere since 1996″, Hollow Grinders take themselves very seriously. And rightfully so, because their instrumental surf music is cut straight from the Californian mould. It’s simply drums, guitars and bass, with a distinct surf flavour that’s a slave to catchy guitar hooks. There is absolutely no twist, not from the band anyway, only from those getting down on the dance-floor. Hollow Grinders get fully into the theme, from their dress, right down to their names (Dirk Thrust, Eddie Hodad, Otis Uh! and Rick O’Kutt), they fully worship the surf genre. They have ten songs available for free download from their website, half were recorded in 1997 and the other half in 2002.

 Hollow Grinders Website

Hollow Grinders- Bradleys Dunny Crouch: MP3

 

F in Math

Former Mint Chick bassist Michael Logie has had this little project going for a few years now and has put out some very interesting music. Hard to pigeon hole, it could perhaps be described as heavy electro pop with scuzzy guitars and rooted bass. It seems that since leaving The Mint Chicks Logie has become more focused on F in Math, proving he wasn’t the loose wheel in the band that some people suggested.  You can expect the live show to be very experimental, with dance beats and a dark succinct lining.

 F in Math- Tubifex: MP3

F in Math- Myspace

 

Bob Wiseman

Bob Wiseman is a musketeer of the music world. Over the course of his twenty-five year career the Canadian has performed both solo and as a member of more than fifteen separate bands, including Wilco, The Wallflowers and The Barenaked Ladies. It is Bob solo that comes to the festival, trailing behind him eleven solo albums stretching back to 1984. His music is known to be explicitly political; his most well-known song ‘Have A Nice Day’ attacks Canadian lawyer Doug Christie who acts as a defence lawyer for racists and neo-Nazis. Wiseman’s experimental folk/rock jazz nowadays often accompanies his own super 8 movies, playing accordion, guitar and piano. He also keeps a well updated blog of his travels throughout the world.

Bob Wiseman- Myspace

Bob Wiseman- My Cousin Dave: MP3

Tickets to the festival can be purchased from Fast n Loose on K-Rd. They cost $30 for the entire weekend, or $15 per night. Doors will open each night at 9pm. The full schedule will be released this week.

 

Posted by Nick Fulton under New Zealand