It’s shaping up to be an exciting year for Christchurch three-piece The Transistors. On Monday they will take the stage to play one of the noisiest sets of the day at Auckland’s Laneway Festival – then in March they’re heading to the USA to tour with Japanese punk band Guitar Wolf.
(EMJ) Are you all still living in Christchurch?
(James Harding) Yep, we’re sticking it out down here, haha.
What’s the state of the music scene down in Christchurch, given that the earthquakes destroyed venues like Goodbye Blue Monday and The Dux and caused loads of people to leave town?
It’s definitely a bit thin at the moment. Things are picking up, but it’s slow. The Darkroom is having gigs every week and the New Dux is underway, which is great. I don’t think that many bands have bailed – things are slowly picking up, I think.
Are there many opportunities for bands in Christchurch or do you think it’s better to head north?
We’re still here, so I guess I can’t really say. For us personally it would be helpful to be in Auckland, as it’s where we record and play a lot of shows, but we also have lives down here. I get the feeling that certain bands move to Auckland because they think it’ll instantly get them more exposure or something, but I’m not sure if it makes a difference.
You’ve released an album and an EP. Tell me about your growth as a band – how have you evolved?
We’re writing better songs these days. People have been saying that the new songs are pretty catchy, which is nice to hear.
How close are you all outside of the band? Are you all best friends or do you more come together to make music?
We formed the band a few years after we became friends, so in a way we’re friends first and a band second, but since we practice twice a week, play shows and record together that’s when we do most of our hanging out.
Do you feel like there’s much of a sense of community in New Zealand for punk music such as yours? Or do you feel like you’re going about it largely by yourselves?
I think there’s definitely a sense of community in New Zealand music, I’m not so sure about punk music specifically.
Your style sounds very much rooted in the original street punk sound. What motivates you to make this kind of music/write these kind of songs?
We listen to punk music but we listen to heaps and heaps of other stuff and I think the other stuff has just as big an influence on us. Olly loves Minor Threat but one of his favourite artists is Bruce Springsteen, so I’d say we’re influenced by good bands and good songs more than any one genre. We’re just trying to make fun, energetic music and write awesome songs. That’s our motivation.
“We’ve actually just been asked to do a tour in the states with Guitar Wolf”
You’re releasing your new album Is This Anything? shortly. What can fans expect from the new record and how is it different from Shortwave and Flux Pentaphile?
I suppose it’s a pretty natural progression from what we’ve done in the past. I think the songs are better and possibly a bit faster.
How much does the music you make as a band reflect the music you listen to in your everyday lives?
I guess it doesn’t, really. We mostly listen to musicals – Hair, Oklahoma, stuff like that.
Live, you’ve played some pretty exciting shows. Tell me about touring with JEFF the Brotherhood and what you learnt from them in regards to DIY touring?
That was a really fun tour, one of our favourites. Jake and Jamin are awesome, really down-to-earth guys and their shows were fucking insane. To be honest, in terms of approach it wasn’t that different to any of the other tours we’ve been on. The only time we’re ever put up in hotels is when we play ‘industry’ shows; otherwise we stay with friends and generally keep it pretty bare bones.
Do you have any ambitious plans for 2012? Will you be heading abroad or staying in New Zealand?
We’ve actually just been asked to do a tour in the states with Guitar Wolf, which is going to be insane, we’re really excited about it. That’s at the end of March. Beyond that, who knows.
You’re playing the Laneway Festival next week and you’re possibly the noisiest band on the line-up. What are you looking forward to most about Laneway and who are you most excited to see play?
It’ll be cool to play to people who won’t have heard of us. I’m looking forward to seeing Opossom and Sherpa. I’ll check out Girls and Yuck and The Horrors, I don’t really know much about a lot of the bands but I listened to Washed Out and thought they had the most apt band name ever.
The Transistors play Laneway this Monday at 1.45pm on the Park Lane Stage
Auckland’s Autumn Splendour have a new video to share that was shot on Super 8 film and processed in Germany. We got the band to explain what they’re about and why they have an obsession with naming songs after themselves.
(EMJ)When did you start Autumn Splendour and has it always been the same line-up?
(AS: Natasha Cantwell) In the Autumn of 2009 Cait and I started the band with our friend Toby who has since moved to Dunedin. Ryan is our third bassist. He joined a year ago but he’s always been part of the Autumn Splendour gang.
What is each of your musical backgrounds?
(N) I hadn’t really played guitar before Autumn Splendour. We’re all pretty much self-taught on the instruments we play in this band. I like how it gives us an unconventional approach to making music. I have a pretty spazzy style, but I’m cool with that.
(AS: Cait Roberts) I learnt to play the drums by playing along with friends who were kind enough to be patient with me. Ryan helped me out quite a bit.
(AS: Ryan Perry) I started playing bass when I joined Autumn Splendour but have played guitar for 10 years.
What do you all do away from the band?
(N) I’m a fashion photographer and artist.
(C) I recently graduated as a psychologist but am currently unemployed.
(R) Writing a thesis on human nature (not the band).
Why punk music? What attracts you to fast, loud, aggressive guitar music?
(N) It was never a conscious decision; the music that we play is just what comes out when we get together! There are a lot of musical genres that I enjoy listening to but wouldn’t have nearly as much fun playing.
(C) I think loud aggressive music was a good way for me and Tash to vent our anger. Plus it’s just an easier style of music for beginners – which is what we were when we started the band.
So far you’ve been pretty active in Auckland, but what about the rest of the country? Have you visited many other towns and how was your music received?
(N) We’ve played in Wellington and Christchurch and we’ve generally found the student and independent radio stations in New Zealand and Australia to be really supportive. Our show at Mighty Mighty was heaps of fun. Wellington showed me a great time!
(C) I thought Wellington was a cool audience – they seemed really into our music and seemed less inhibited or something.
“They represent things Natasha or I have said, or stories about extreme behaviour.”
Auckland has a pretty solid alternative punk scene, have you played any particularly memorable shows?
(C) I really like playing parties – so any house parties we played were memorable. There is less pressure and everyone is just having a good time rather than paying to see a band.
(R) My first performance was an impromptu set after The Crabbs at a house party in West Terrace. Memorably, Peter Crabbs introduced us as Awesome Blender.
(N) Pushing that over-eager drunk girl off the stage at Mighty Mighty was pretty memorable. I never know how far you can take things when you’re on stage. She was fine though, drunk people bounce back.
You released your first EP on 7″ vinyl. Have you recovered the costs yet?
(C) Gosh, I have no idea.
(N) We still have some available for sale. Once they’re all sold we’ll almost break even! It was never a financially motivated decision. It’s so exciting having your songs on vinyl, we just wanted to do it and make something we’d be proud of.
Are you about to release your debut album or another EP?
(N) Currently we’re just releasing singles one by one rather than as a whole EP or album.
How does your new music differ from what’s on your first EP?
(N) The EP is the first six songs we ever wrote, recorded only six months after we’d formed the band. We used to just write songs on the spot, now we spend a bit more time trying out different ideas.
(R) The new songs are darker and more aggressive. We’ve probably developed as musicians or something, but in the very least there is ever-increasing bass distortion.
(C) I think it has more depth to it – musically, that is. We’re more confident to try out different things now. I’m not so worried about playing my drums “right” like I used to be.
You seem to like using your own names as song titles, ‘Cait’ on the first EP and now ‘Natasha’. What do those songs represent?
(C) They represent things Natasha or I have said, or stories about extreme behaviour.
(N) All our songs are named after our friends, but I swear it’s only a coincidence that we end up recording the songs about band members.
When is Ryan going to get a song, and what will it be about?
(R) I have one! Everyone is going to get to hear a recorded version really soon that we did at the same time as ‘Natasha’. It’s about schoolyard anxieties and a fear of germs. It’s probably exaggerated.
You’re releasing your new video today. Tell me about it?
(N) We’re releasing a video for ‘Malcolm’, which is on the EP. My friend Tom and I shot this video before the band had recorded our new songs, but difficulties in getting the film processed in Germany has meant we’ve only just finished it now! It’s shot on super 8 (which I’m obsessed with) and features a wannabe Malcolm getting ready and hyped up for a night out. It was inspired by the gin drinking and dancing habits of my friend (who has requested to remain nameless) who stars in the video and references one of my favourite artworks, ‘Gordon’s Makes Us Drunk’ by Gilbert & George.
How can people find out more about Autumn Splendour and when can they next see you play live?
(C) : Come talk to us after gigs if you want to know more!
(N) We’re playing on Saturday, January 21st at Bodega in Wellington with The Eversons and we’re currently organising an Auckland gig with Mean Girls in February.
Take a ride on Cartoon’s magic carpet through an interstellar world of warped synths, squeals and relentless barrelling drums. Listening to the album 69er On A Magic Carpet is like being stuck in a remixed computer game, upside down. Dizzying sounds whir past at breakneck speed in an ever-upbeat utopia. In the spirit of Dan Deacon, Ryan Bennett’s energy levels remain high in a constant state of psychotic bliss. With chewy synths splitting the crisp cuts of seamless melodies it seems like he barely takes a breath throughout the entire album. An epic drum master from a myriad of bands, including Megaheroes, Ryan continues his effortless conquering of the skins with this frenetic attack. Enlisted to help with the album’s production were Luke Rowell (Disasteradio) and Jeremy Coubrough (Marineville, Signer, Orchestra of Spheres and founder of the Rampant Runes label) with mixing, Jason Post with mastering and Tim Shann with drum recording. The album was officially released on January 2 and screen printed cassettes should be available soon from Epic Sweep Records. Download the album from bandcamp now for pay-as-you-like and buy a sweet t-shirt!
Juxtaposing a stout middle-aged man going for swim with shots panning over paintings of stately European mansions and fires amid snow, Cool Rainbows’ video for their first single sure makes an impression. A gentle, shuffling beat and warm atmospheric sounds make an idyllic bed for Djeisan Suskov’s gentle voice to coast along. From his roots five or so years ago in post-punk scene-stealers Nova Echo to the more recent pop of Trees Climbing Trees, Djeisan’s latest project takes a lighter, more ambient route. Little Chief signed him in March and he’s such a studio-bound perfectionist that it took him ’til 10 days ago to release his first single. But it’s proof that hard work pays off, as ‘Southern Summer Sun’ is a polished piece of pop bliss. The more embellished sound with quaint instrumentation including deft little touches of guitar and swaying melodies made with unusual sounds is testament to his sophisticated talent. The song is available for pay-as-you-like download and will be on his upcoming album Whale Rocket.
Delaney Davidson is a name we’ve been hearing around for a while now but have only been properly acquainted with tonight. With a charming, low voice, stylish instrumentation and intriguing lyrics, Delaney Davidson’s alt folk/country songwriting credentials are well and truly realised. His oddly meandering crooning style is upfront and with the bare bones of a song behind him in ‘Time Has Gone’, the essence is distilled down to its finest simplicity, which makes it all the more powerful. With blaring horns, searing violins and flairs of piano accordion, what’s there melodically is succinct and striking. Though it may seem well orchestrated for a song of its nature, the dynamics between the parts make it eerily sparse and slightly disjointed, which results in a memorable take on an old sound.
Delaney is a proper storyteller, with a trusted sage style about him and a well-worn voice. With an equally intricate video to match that includes his bizarre journey to find a suitcase submerged in the sea, ‘Time Has Flown’ is spellbinding and beautiful. Read more about the amazing, self-sufficient multidisciplinary artist behind the music on his website.
Readers voted and here’s the result… welcome to EMJ’s Top 20 Releases of 2011.
1
Bon Iver- Bon Iver
Despite this being Justin Vernon’s second album as Bon Iver, as self-titled albums tend to suggest, it is a bit like a new beginning. Though it clearly retains his introspective, emotional style, it’s much more instrumentally developed and has a more rounded sound than his debut. While this has been panned by some for being overblown and failing to deliver, none can deny Vernon’s ability to write incredibly touching songs. With his high-pitched voice lending itself to honest outpourings, in only four years the Wisconsin native has crafted a spellbinding style of enigmatic pop that has enchanted the world and earned him four 2012 Grammy nominations. It’s no mistake Bon Iver evokes many comparisons to wintry isolation – Vernon named his project after an intentional misspelling of the French term for “good winter”. On his second album he indulges the bleak, stark feeling, filling every song with intimacy. It’s fragile and even-tempered, with orchestration pale enough to retain a delicate air. Elsewhere it can get heavier, but he balances it well. And yes, there’s a little autotune again, lingering at the end in ‘Beth/Rest’, where country lap steel meets clanging ’80s ballad-piano and the occasional squealing guitar. A taste of something almost obscenely unfamiliar. But that’s why Bon Iver’s loved – he’s not afraid to expose himself sonically, even if that means varied results. Sarah
These guys popped up rather mysteriously earlier in the year, amid a wave of speculation about who was fronting the Portland-based project. It turned out to be former Mint Chicks guitarist Ruban Nielson and his two buddies, Jake Portrait and Julien Ehrich. They were rumoured to be releasing music via New Zealand label Flying Nun, but it later turned out to be Fat Possum Records who had picked up the deal to release their wildly eccentric debut album. “Troublegum-pop” was a term used to describe The Mint Chicks’ sound and Nielson seems to have run with the idea of making eclectic pop music and has added an unusual psychedelic slant. With a dizzying fantasy effect, where the finished product sounds slightly ragged and rustic, UMO’s music is almost anti-pop, mixing pop melodies with sharp, piercing rhythms that have a frisky punk sound reminiscent of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd.
High Places’ most introspective and mature album yet is characterised by foreboding melodies, with Mary Pearson’s vocals utilised in an eerie, haunted way and Rob Barber’s ever-clever programming taking a dancier route. With isolated riffs and creepy sounds trickling through, the LA (by way of Brooklyn) duo’s third album is all about delicately constructed songs that show they’re more sure of themselves than ever before. Pulsating bass, murky chimes and swampy synths are spun together in an effortlessly hypnotic and dubby way. The creeping shapeshifting of ‘Sonora’, with Mary’s elegant soprano leading the way through ’90s-style production brings to mind Massive Attack, where other songs drift deeper into hallucinogenic territory. Despite the band sounding so comfortable in their sound, there’s a certain nervous quality that keeps you guessing and ultimately draws listeners further under their spell. Sarah
Smoke Ring For My Halo has helped Kurt Vile grow from a cult underground icon into an indie rock superstar. The album received top marks from almost every major music press outfit worldwide and has consistently been included in ‘Best of 2011′ lists, more so than any other album this year. Vile’s storytelling is the main attraction, echoing sentiments of young America, particular appealing to the working class and the increasing number of students struggling with debt and the unavailability of skilled jobs. His relatable persona has a wide reach, and fans have been able to engage with him in a way that few modern artists allow. His lack of pretension makes for a really comfortable listen, challenging the listener with words rather than complex instrumental arrangements. Kurt Vile also gives proof that political engagement is slowly making a comeback in popular music, with songs like ‘Puppet to the Man’ and ‘Society Is My Friend’ showing an acute social awareness.
When I interviewed Annie Clark in 2009 she was an exhausted mess, fumbling over facts about her second album Actor. She was mid-way through a gruelling tour of the US and at that point she seemed ready to give up music for good. Then she started telling me about how she wrote the songs on Actor, which revealed a similar story of exhaustion and disillusionment after touring in support of her first album Marry Me and it started to make sense. But like all good career musicians Clark recovered and her third album, Strange Mercy, is perhaps her best. The album was recorded in isolation in Seattle, away from what she describes as “the information overload” of New York City. Her guitar work is the major attraction on Strange Mercy and it’s what sets the album apart from her previous two. It also reaffirms her attraction as a singer/songwriter, with many of the songs developing into stories accompanied more rigidly by a single guitar, while other instruments play a less prominent role.
John Maus- We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
With a dazzling array of ambient synths and moody vocals, John Maus’ third album is a masterpiece that explores the seedy underground of pop. A former keyboard player for Animal Collective, Panda Bear and Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti (and political science PhD student), Maus’s lyrics are dark, philosophical and sung in an almost medieval-chant. We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves is awash with razor-sharp post-punk basslines, primitive drums, Ian Curtis-influenced vocals and Night Rider-esque sing-along synths. One of his simultaneously loved and hated qualities is perhaps his grandiose booming baritone – it would be pretentious if it wasn’t so cool. One of our favourite songs is ‘Cop Killer’, a threatening and incredibly addictive ballad. Maus says, “The song’s not about killing a human being, but about overcoming inhumanity; destroying the machinery that turns us toward an end other than ourselves.” In an age of effortless mediocrity, he’s trying to inspire us all to lift our game. “We live in a world where information travels faster and is circulated more widely than ever before, yet all it delivers is inanities… no art stands a chance unless we struggle, unless we make some kind of effort to think.” Sarah
Like their name suggests – this Auckland three-piece sure do make a racket. And it’s true that they are down with the kids, as the young Auckland punk scene adores them. Their music is plain and simple; punk with a pop melody, and they are one of the most enthusiastic bands around. They’ve been pretty innovative with Down With The Kids and have proved to be quite savvy entrepreneurs, driving traffic to their website by releasing what they’ve called “Six Sick Singles” – a video every two weeks to go with the EP. Watched in sequence, the videos follow the band through a series of silly gags and daily-life rituals, with guest appearances by several minor New Zealand celebrities.
Like Washed Out and Neon Indian, Toro Y Moi has defined a new strain of indie pop in 2011 (and 2010 – he featured on our last End of Year List). But while many ride the chill wave, few do it so consistently well as Chaz Bundick of Toro Y Moi. With funky hooks tight enough to reside in a Motown number-one and melodies harking back to Michael Jackson’s most creative efforts, the beauty of Chaz’s second album is its perfect flow, easy vibe and undeniable finger-snapping, toe-tapping pop goodness. With silly little synth bits and steadfast basslines and shakers peppering the rubbery R&B, Chaz’s chilled singing remains a constant, tying it all together. This is another album that keeps drawing listeners back with its super cool riffs and relaxed energy. Underneath the Pine is one of my personal favourites of 2011 – every time I listen to it I end up humming it for days. Sarah
From her 18-year solo career it’s hard to pick a highlight, but for many it’s PJ Harvey’s tenth studio album Let England Shake. It saw her win the coveted Mercury Prize for a second time (the first was 2000′s Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea), to become the only artist to win the award twice. Recorded in a church in Dorset, England, the album has a grand sound, and has a heavy theme based around conflict and social unrest. Harvey cites the poetry of Harold Pinter and T.S Eliot as major influences, but the Orwellian ideas that the album addresses suggests that her strongest literary influence comes from a less cryptic source.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a latecomer to the King of Limbs party like we are – Radiohead’s one of those great bands that constantly bubble away in the background, honing and redefining their sound every step of the way. With the band’s eighth album they take the electronic jungle of their wranglings from the start of last decade (on Amnesiac and Kid A) and make it softer, more poppier but also more weird. With consistent jazzy beats never breaking a sweat, weird grungey guitar riffs filter in and out amongst a steady bed of sounds. There’s an element of the immediately accessible but also the aloft otherworldliness that the band has made their trademark. Long may they keep at it! Sarah
Chad VanGaalen surely wins the award for most creative album of 2011. Not only is Diaper Island a diverse mix of garage, grunge, folk, pop and punk, Chad’s own artistic skills grace its cover and then there’s his amazing digitally animated psychedelic video for hit single ‘Peace On The Rise’. While comparisons to Neil Young will always hover over Chad VanGaalen, this album kind of pays tribute to the Canadian hero. Diaper Island is bursting with political energy and social satire, but it’s perfectly balanced by a number of romantic songs that clearly demonstrate VanGaalen’s intellect.
One of the biggest drawcards for this year’s Laneway Festival, M83′s stunning sixth studio album has finally found them the worldwide fame they deserved long ago. Sprinkled with delightful drone, a mixture of noise and luscious pop songs decorate this 22-track double album, beginning with a duet with US goth-pop princess Zola Jesus. ‘Midnight City’ was the album’s biggest hit – a refined synth-pop extravaganza that slides through waves of industrial synths and percussion before fading out to a saxophone solo. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is arguably one of the best produced albums of 2011, capturing the big studio sound of LA’s Sunset Sound Recording studio.
The seventh album by Glasgow stalwarts Mogwai has been touted as one of their best yet. In the quintet’s sixteenth year together, they’ve struck a successful balance between noise, post-rock and ambient music. Intensity builds as each song progresses from a skeletal form to a full-bodied masterpiece. Drawing on Neu!’s boundless, rhythmic drive and Explosions in the Sky’s intensity, HWND, BYW knows when to be delicate and subtle, but also when to be more brutal. Sarah
Lil Chief snapped up Wellington’s latest purveyors of modern pop, The Eversons, fast – and with good reason. Fronted by Mark Turner (ex-Little Pictures) and with Chris Young (Insurgents, No Aloha), Tim Shann and Blair Everson, The Eversons have a crisp, clear garage rock vibe that strongly recalls Art Brut and American college rock with its undeniable catchiness and the immediate satisfaction this brings. With classic guitar riffs and day-in-life-style lyrics telling stories about girls, the five-song EP is instantly likeable. Central song ‘Boyfriend’ brings perhaps the most diversity, with its alternating vocalists and building a story about a burgeoning relationship. This is one of those bands that doesn’t muck around, delivering a top-class release very early in their career, which makes us excited about future things to come from them. Sarah
As far as young Auckland guitar bands go they don’t get much better than Meese. Their rendition of ’90s guitar rock referencing Pavement, Superchunk and Sebadoh has been put together perfectly well, with distinct vocal melodies that set them apart from most other bands on the local scene. Pieces of You, Pieces of Meese isn’t the most polished release, but it’s been rewarded by fans looking for something a little different, while retaining a reference point to those classic ’90s rock bands.
In Heaven, Twin Sister’s debut album, came after two cosy EPs which saw the band labelled ‘pillow-pop’ by Pitchfork. Strikingly different was the band’s tightening up of their rhythms, breathing life into music that had previously relied more on having a sleepy composition. There’s more sway and experimentation too, with new avant-garde guitar sounds lifting Twin Sister beyond their previous limitations.
Here at EMJ we never gave this EP much time when it was released in September, but thanks to A Low Hum label owner Ian ‘Blink’ Jorgenson Leno Lovecraft has now been played in clubs throughout Europe and the USA. That happened on Disasteradio’s world tour and it just so goes that the two label-mates somewhat define the A Low Hum label’s sound of the past two years. EP#1 was the only A Low Hum release of 2011. Leno Lovecraft is the more disco orientated of the two, using glam rock fills, laser striking synths and some super sexy vocals to create posh electro-pop.
Sometimes an album will come out of left field at you. I never expected to become infatuated with Male Bonding, but such is the power of the London-based group’s perfectly formed grunge pop. With tightly-wound hooks balanced by oddly placid vocals and a relentlessly energetic undercurrent driving every song, the band’s second LP Endless Now comes off as an instant classic. The songs are simple and to the point, with a singability to rival Blink 182, but anyone who’s likely to be rankled by the latter is sure to find solace in this band’s approach. Consistency is key, arguably any song could be picked off as a single, but in traditional album format they lead with their strongest contenders. Endless Now makes good use of a myriad of classic pop elements, but the band’s youthful vantage point has them unquestionably forward-thinking. This was easily my favourite album of the year, despite the brutal competition. I will keep coming back to this again and again because it never fails to raise my spirits and remind me of the hugely exciting potential that’s still out there. Sarah
When first single ‘Vomit’ dropped in July this album quickly became one of the most anticipated of 2011. Vomit’s mix of 70′s psychedelia, circa Pink Flyod’s Dark Side of The Moon, its epic six-minute running time and its build up in intensity through to a grand climax similar to Guns N’ Roses’ ‘November Rain’ laid a pretty solid foundation for an album to be packed full of nostalgic power ballads. Father, Son, Holy Ghost ended up being the complete opposite – a schizoid mix of ’60s pop, rambling folk ballads and gospel backed R’n'B.
In 2011 Nevernudes returned to making spazzy punk after experimenting with mumbly grunge in 2010 on their debut album Creepy Crawlies. Mixing noisy, grungy guitars with pop melodies and writing songs about growing up in Auckland’s often boring, socially oppressive CBD have proved influential and appealing to their peers.
Last time we featured Pikachunes on EMJ someone commented saying, “(this) sounds more like a 12-year-old boy experimenting with electronic music programs in his room and just not getting them right.” Another commenter said, “these beats sound like they were made on fruity loops or some shit.” But the overall response was pretty positive and live crowds around the country always seem totally into it. Most recently, signed to Lil’ Chief Records, Pikachunes toured the USA with Princess Chelsea and received a mention on MTV Iggy. This new video, filmed while on tour in New York City sees him walking around the city in a Pikachu suit, visiting a few famous landmarks and bringing smiles to the faces of serious New Yorkers. The video was directed by Doug Schachtel who has previously made music videos for The Go! Team and The Brunettes.
New(ish) Wellington trio Sunken Seas step out with a post-rock/pop number, combining the noisier moments of Secret Knives (think ‘Black Hole’) with the ricocheting guitar sound of Spacemen 3. It’s a little bit Flying Nun too, with HDU and Bailter Space having an obvious influence on the band, and there’s a hint of British indie rockers The Horrors in the bass lines. The band was formed after the trio’s previous project (Tiddabades) ended. Leaving behind their angular guitar days for a more structured approach, members Ryan Harte, Craig Rattray and Luke Kavanagh have gone semi-shoegaze without being overly aggressive with their distortion pedals. It allows the previously mentioned pop elements to creep in, creating a more positive atmosphere while retaining some of the darker elements that the band so obviously embrace (watch the video for ‘High Rise’). Their first single, and only release to date is a serenading vocal-less song titled ‘High Rise’. It can be downloaded for free from Bandcamp or you can watch it with moving pictures over on Youtube.
Glass Vaults has been getting airtime on KEXP 90.3FM in Seattle with their new single ‘Gold Star’, largely thanks to their US label Jukboxr. The song is the first to be released from the band’s forthcoming EP Into Clear, out on vinyl and CD in the US and released digitally here in New Zealand on October 31. But while the EP title Into Clear suggests a bright pristine sound, without mystique or unusual curiosities, ‘Gold Star’ draws a direct oxymoron, developing an environment where darkness and eerie imagery are an essential catalyst for the music’s moody disposition. Richard Larsen’s voice is like that of a man awash with emotion, while Rowan Pierce adds shimmering backing vocals to extend Larsen’s vociferous call. Bevan Smith (Signer) produced the album, so as imaginable the quality is superb, full of smoothed edges and whimsical rhythms that float beneath Larsen and Pierce’s voices remarkably well. The accompanying image here is by Hannah Sutherland, and will be used as an insert inside the CD and vinyl versions of Into Clear. It also goes with a similar theme the band is adopting for the ‘Gold Star’ video, which still has an undecided release date.
Glass Vaults will play three release shows this October/November: Auckland on October 21 in St Kevins Arcade, Whanganui on October 22 at Space Monster and in Wellington on November 5 at Matterhorn. All shows will be with Seth Frightening.
Back in June our friend Matthew Scheurich was shot with a bow and arrow while living in the Papua New Guinean jungle. The attack made international news headlines. He’s now back living in Auckland, New Zealand, recovering from his traumatic experience. In an email today he said, “chest pains flare up from time to time”, but that his “lung capacity feels much better now.” Since his near-death experience Matt has been working on a new musical project, to help him deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. He’s titled it Bow Arrow and it’s very different from his previous work as rapper MC Stormtroopa and in punk band Damsels. Bow Arrow is a very gloomy project, full of rich electronic textures and dark motifs. There’s a lot of pain and trauma in the lyrics, with thundery echoes surrounding his voice. It’s got a dark, witch-house sound, similar to Salem, Nite Jewel and Chelsea Wolfe.
The first Bow Arrow release, titled Σ Of An Aftermath, can be downloaded from Bandcamp. Please donate generously, as Matt’s financial situation has been severely strained since leaving hospital and returning to New Zealand. You can listen to ‘Glitter’ here on EMJ.
