Never Seen Street Chant's Insides

Auckland trio Street Chant have just released new LP Hauora through esteemed label Flying Nun Records. The first single off it is 'Insides', a particularly scrappy nihilistic punk blast that is reminiscent of other NZ bands like Transistors and Die! Die! Die! It even gives space for some guitar solo esoterics. The flip side of the Street Chant sound is showcased on 'Never', a "golden oldie" that's been buffed up and spitwashed, a shimmering song about wanting things to roll your way that evokes the more obvious Kiwi indie histrionics. An exciting band that has been quiet for far too long. You can pick up Hauora here.

We Expect You To Die! Die! Die!

NZ maelstrom Die! Die! Die! have always maintained a frenetic disposition, even as their earlier fractured, frenzied post-punk attack found itself smoothing out into something more streamlined and sustained. This was most obvious in their live setting, which has lost none of the fevered kinetics over the years. Yet we get more of the former on ‘I Love Space Travel’, the opening gambit of new EP What Did You Expect, a knowingly named release out through Bad Health Records (formerly known as Black Night Crash Records). Andrew Wilson’s pitched wail is back, spit flecked feverish; his guitarwork as spiked and sepulchral as ever. This is all heightened by Michael Prain’s pummelling work on the drums, here as brutal as I have ever heard him, almost as if he is trying to beat his way through the core of the earth. They haven’t shirked dark melody though, with the title track a contemplative counterweight. Recorded and mixed by Rory Atwell (Warm Brains – he is on bass duties here also), it’s a timely reminder that as tempered as the fury can be, it still never dies. Grab What Did You Expect here.

Temporal Schisms Never Die

Lachlan Anderson is known to a lot of Brisbane folk, but a few of you playing at home in other global climes might recognise him as the bass player for NZ schizoid art punks Die! Die! Die! Now residing in London, Anderson is heading off in other directions. He hasn't abandoned the bass and the rock - currently plying his trade as part of the band Night Shades - but it is in his solo guise that he is truly beguiling. He played the last Sonic Masala show a few weeks ago at New River Studios, and his sonic exploration of the techno gloaming was great - melding ambient glides with shuddering beats and an Umberto/Vangelis hybrid of seductive digital night noir. To get a sense of where this is building, Anderson has just released two tracks, 'Temporal Shift' and 'Ascend I & II'. You can see the affinity also with Yaws in this deliberate skewing of electronic propulsion for more sinister, lasting effect. Good morning.

VIDEO VACUUM - Die! Die! Die!, King Khan & the Shrines, Major Leagues, Colfax Speed Queen

How many places are there that allows you to walk around in T-shirts and short in the "coldest" months of the year? Not many. Brisbane, and Australia in general, is lucky like that. But put that opposite the fact we have two backward heathens in their own depraved circle-jerks, taking yoga classes only so they can suck their own cock, and yet we need to choose one to lead the country - and Australia doesn't feel so much like the lucky country. And don't even get me STARTED on the 4th Ashes Test - sigh. The airwaves are flooded with idiocy and ineptitude. SO let me change that, with the aid of four willing accomplices...



NZ malcontents Die! Die! Die! managed to find a strange balance between the two anachronistic ideals of nihilism and innate melody on last year's Harmony, finding that it's possible to be approachable without losing any of your ideals. See the video for 'Twitching Sunshine'. The cyclical repetition of history beating down the minority (in this case, the black civil rights movement in the US and the subsequent assassinations and murders that can be attributed to outspoken African-American leaders of their time and, in Tupac's case, sub/slash/counter-culture). Its a crude yet excellently effective cut-&-paste stop-motion video (somewhat in the South Park vein). Boys, so glad you are back.



There is no one on this planet quite like King Khan. Here he is with his Shrines in tow, preparing to launch his first album with the band in six years, and here is another great video to salivate over. Also stop-motion, this time a claymation effort, we have the story of a series of circus carnies - a strongman, a human cannonball - and a mystic. Apparently the German team responsible for this would take eight hours just to shoot three seconds of film - that kind of dedication is admirable. The song itself is a soulful slowburner - Can't wait to hear what Idle No More has in store for us.


The Aussie contingent today is upheld by local legends Major Leagues, who went a-filmin' on the greatness that is Cavill Ave on the Gold Coast, along with a little bit of smoke machine in the pokies room at the Grand Central Hotel in Brisbane (filmed right after the Sonic Masala show we did there with Dreamtime), for their sweet-as video for 'Endless Drain'. It's as saccharine in its sweet sun pop drenched in coalescing noise, yet with some rather melancholy, deadbeat lyricism that implies that not all is golden up ahead. Still, it's a hell of a lot of fun, which is pretty much Major Leagues' MO, so don't hang your head for too long kids!



Finally, I know next to nothing about Denver collective Colfax Speed Queen, yet absolutely love their montage film clip for their 'Bathtub Crank' single. In fact, this video tells me all I need to know - a scuzzed-out racket obsessed with trashy B exploitation/zombie flicks. That pretty much ticks all the boxes for me.

NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Shanghai Grows A Pair(s)

 

Got this self-deprecating email last week from Pairs, an intense two-piece based in Shanghai. The band is one of opposites – boy/girl (Xiao Zhong on drums and vocals, F on guitar), Australian/Chinese, nihilistic/silly, angular/pop “that goes alright sometimes.” At times Xiang’s vocals are droll, a plaintive Australian drawl a la Brendan Suppression, whilst the musicianship hinges on F’s gunshot switches from slacker strumming to squalls of white noise, Zhou’s drumming hovering between a tight metronome and a sledgehammer.

Pairs have been fairly prolific, putting out a live recording, an eight track album and a double LP in the past few months, whilst they have dabbled extensively in videos and various formats (vinyl, cassette, CD, DVD, USB). They have come close to Aussie shores, having toured New Zealand thanks to SM mates MUZAI Records, whilst spreading their wares to much of Asia. They are intrinsically tied to China though, being part of a dun Shanghai that may be small but with enough bouncing off the walls to constantly refill the creative well.

But what do they sound like? Well, in the past the band have slated influences such as Royal Headache, Die! Die! Die!, Batrider, Kes…and Jason Molina. Seriously. And to be honest, there are moments on tracks such as ‘Cat Food’ from their If This Cockroach Doesn’t Die, I Will double album that I can take the bait. There is lo-fi slacker pop requiems to be taken, but in the main this is zany art noise with extra crunch (like those moments in Shooting At Unarmed Men when Jon Chapple nailed it – that was hit and miss, but Pairs get it closer to the mark) – which is built into my lifeblood.

Head over to Pairs’ Bandcamp to sample/buy any/all of their releases. Sonic Masala would love to get these guys to come to Australia for a tour – leave a comment or email them me if you agree!

Pairs – Gig Of The Week (from Grandparents)
Pairs – Mean Buzz (from If This Cockroach Doesn’t Die, I Will)

Against The Bemsha Swing

 

Some more raucous post-punk noise from New Zealand comes in the circular form of Against Friends & Lovers, the debut LP by Auckland duo (and drum machine) The Bemsha Swing (the Thelonius Monk reference is...well, unexpected to say the least). These guys have been killing it of late, scoring white hot support slots of the likes of Wire and Holy Fuck, and one listen to the record it isn't hard to see why. Abrasive patterns and beats, frenetic guitar hooks, blood-curdling screams and howls - it's steel wool to the ears, cleansed with a bottle of cheap vodka and a William Faulkner tome. Like a more industrial Die!Die!Die!, Against Friends & Lovers takes no prisoners, and The Bemsha Swing should make waves come 2013.

 

Grab Against Friends & Lovers through Muzai Records here. It's good.

Damn Terran Spitting Pet Hates

I received this EP in the mail last week. I had never heard of Damn Terran, but their EP Pet Hate intrigued me due to the cover art - a take on Sonic Youth's iconic Goo cover, but with Skippy and a zombified Sonny. The EP itself is 7 slices of post punk fury - the three piece eviscerate with their punchy numbers, all squalls, precariousness and inherent vice. Its a great introduction to the band, even if the overall effect of the release is that although the songs blend into each other by the end, these guys would be amazing live - a must see even. Ive only listened the once too, so Im going back to dip into the murky depths right now...

Damn Terran arent coming up to Brisbane any time soon, although they have a few shows in Melbourne including supporting NZ's Die!Die!Die! as they launch their new album - definitely one show to catch.

Damn Terran - Crowd Control
Damn Terran - Rational Economic Man

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

Three young Kiwi punk kids Voltron into a fat angry man...

Yep. Thats pretty much FATANGRYMAN, the Auckland no-wave fuck ups that struggle to stay in time, to sound anything other than a discordant swamp of a mess, and come out the other side smelling like (albeit sweaty and bloodstained) roses. These girls (and guy...) have some connections to other Kiwi exports Die! Die! Die! and The Mint Chicks - and although it can be argued that those bands can play their instruments and have more to say, FATANGRYMAN throw distortion into a fan and watch the results flayed across a grungy mattress. And then there's 'Wrapped In Plastic', a track that hints at a squirming, menacing disquiet behind the mayhem... Its infused with an enthusiasm that informs the miasmic mess that the band offers, and the contrasting effects of anger and fun that oozes from the speakers is enough of a hook to give them some 90s props.

FATANGRYMAN - Wrapped In Plastic

FATANGRYMAN - Phyllis