Trust These Punks To Get Us In Gordian Knots

Auckland tetchy malcontents Trust Punks are preparing to launch their debut LP Discipline (through Spunk Records)on a widely unsuspecting world later this year, and 'Gordian Knot' leads me to believe that they intend to hypnotise and paralyse in equal measure. Offering up an off-kilter pop stagger in the first third, the five-piece laugh and howl in our faces, the guitars interweaving with that piano-wire precision that Canadian band Women mastered so well (yes, I STILL am harping on about them), all making for a mesmerising yet disconcerting listen. Then there is the crunch of the vocal less middle, that marches forward with hooded intent, before bringing us full circle, an agitated ouroboros eating its own tail. Like geographical brethren Popstrangers, Trust Punks are taking melodies from a skewed angle, something I am incredibly happy with.

Video Vacuum - Mesa Cosa, Bitches, Popstrangers, Nine Black Alps, Cull

Did you know it is Christmas... Or was. You probably noticed, seeing as it was jammed down your throat every five minutes. It's gone for another year, so relax. Or don't - because Valentine's Day and Easter paraphernalia are already in the shops! Fuck you, The Man. I'm gonna watch some videos instead...



Mesa Cosa are a bunch of loud, destructive idjits who love to rock. They don't want to go to Sydney either, enough to write a song about it. It's such a fun song though it sounds like they actually DO want to go to Sydney. Or maybe want to party hard so that they they don't have to go. But then 80 seconds in they ARE in Sydney...stop confusing me dudes!



London's Bitches have 'No Brain'. Read that sentence carefully - there are capitals and specific kinds of punctuation there for a reason. The duo are silly too, running around screwing with hipsters in garish ritualistic masks - but then they get their comeuppance by being chased down and killed - by themselves! Whoa. It's all typically serrated punk of the decidedly sloppy kind, fuzzy and loose as fuck, and all words are in their right place - a no brainer bitches.



Popstrangers burst forth with their excellent debut LP Antipodes earlier in 2013, and closed out the year with an EP with new single 'Rats In The Palm Trees', a little slower, glowier, and a fitting postscript to a highly successful twelve months for the trio. The film clip is simple yet intriguing. I want to never drink Red Stripe from a can again though (especially at venues like Scala where its almost five quid), and yet this video (filmed in London) makes it more than OK.



A surprise in the inbox this week comes from Sydney dreamers Cull. Their montage of vehicular-viewed landscapes intercut with other wind and snow swept footage fits the drifting cacophony beautifully - set your ears to swoon. I missed their album Ba Noi last year, Ill have to rectify that pronto.



Let's finish with some Brit grunge wails, huh? Well, it suits the fucking miserable weather they (and I) have over there at the moment. Nine Black Alps have always wavered in and out of favour with me, but the Manchester marauders have hooked me on the chorus of their single 'Novokaine' (REALLY could have done without the K though). The clip is straightforward band playing in a room stuff, but it's all about the bombast and bluster and gnashing of aural teeth. OK, lads - Ill crush my molars into dust too.

NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Pop In Some Strange Way

I had the pleasure of seeing Transistors play the Kiwi bash party pre-BigSound Live last night, and despite the short running time (15min or so) they killed it. If you managed to get tickets for tonight, they are playing at Ric's Cafe alongside Super Wild Horses and The Gooch Palms, and promise to be incredible. But this post isn't about Transistors, but another ace NZ band called Popstrangers, whose Happy Accidents EP back in 2010 I quite enjoyed (see here). It's been close to two years since I have heard anything new from these Auckland lads, but that doesn't mean they have been sitting idle. They have an album on its way that should smash up the beginnings of 2013 (as long as the Mayans don't blow up the world before then). Expect to hear a lot more in the lead up to this.

Popstrangers - In Some Ways

Listen To T54, "Because I Told You To..."

Over the past month or two Ive been mentioning a slew of NZ acts that I think are pretty special - Surf City, Secret Knives, The Mint Chicks, Die! Die! Die!, Paperghost, Glass Vaults, FATANGRYMAN, Popstrangers... But what people outside of New Zealand may not realise is that the majority (OK, all) of these acts come from the North Island. Now, Ive spent my fair share of time around Christchurch and the South Island, and there didnt seem to be much of a burgeoning music scene bubbling under the surface - unless you're into dub, then you are pretty much set. (I must admit though that I havent been there since 2006, so that is a lot of time between drinks of Speights...)

T54 are determined to prove me wrong, and if they are anything like the Russian tank they are named after, I best get out of their way. They have an EP on its way on Christchurch label Gold Sounds called Drone Attacks, and if 'Julie K' is anything to go by, they have a record collection solely made up of My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth, along with a healthy fixation on Japandroids' Post Nothing and Male Bonding's Nothing Hurts. Which is fucking great. Where were you guys 5 years ago when I had to gnaw off my own arm in Christchurch just to have some aural anarchy? Sure, its beautiful and all, but still...Im a convert. I had dreams of moving to the Canterbury region back then, and if there is a scene like this being mustered, I may just go back to that dream...

Head over to their bandcamp and not only can you pick up 'Julie K', but a list of demos (which features some Dick Dale-isms along with their no wave love) they did under the name Superdicksystem, a play on a 90s album by NZ band The Feelers. I agree with the sentiments...

T54 - Julie K

Popstrangers Create Happy Accidents

Sticking to this inadvertent, totally accidental New Zealand music theme, we turn our lights to Popstrangers, a three piece who are making major waves over in Auckland. Since the release of their debut self-titled EP last year, they have supported the likes of Peaches, Crocodiles and Die! Die! Die!, also having garnered a slot on the Big Day Out lineup.

Not bad, you say? Well, yes, we'd agree. But a lot of tosh gets good grades, don't they? Yes.

SO we decided to cast this "talking to myself and answering my own questions" chutzpah aside, bypass their early stuff (which has a swirling indie rock tempo that nonetheless delves into the darker shades of the rock realm) and have a crack at a couple of cuts from their upcoming EP Happy Accidents. It is my pleasure to state that the trio have gotten louder over the past 12 months, whilst retaining a pitch-perfect sense of mid-90s slacker indie angst. The vocals remind me so much of one of Australia's greatest underrated acts of the 1990s, Gaslight Radio - and that alone gets them the thumbs up! And then the second half of 'Avenue' comes across as an early ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead track, and our thumbs exploded!

Over all, what Popstrangers are able to convey is a tight level of songwriting that many bands toss aside for some scrambled airwaves - and whilst noise is always welcomed, its embraced when done with a clear objective and a high degree of coherence. Whilst there isnt a release date for anywhere other than in their home country, Im sure it wont be long before Popstrangers come knocking at our doors...

Popstrangers - Avenue

Popstrangers - Their, There