“Fame” by Ben Woods

Ben Woods is now two albums deep into a singular journey to the heart of “Antipodean Gothic”. His first solo album “PUT” set the scene, but retained something of the recognisable guitar-pop roots of his previous role as wielder of a Gibson Flying-V guitar in bands like Wurld Series etc. His latest journey to slowed-down weird-pop is “Dispeller” and the opening track is “Fame”:

“Fame” is a strange, slow, woozy thing. Reminds me a bit of The Everly Brothers’ “All I have To Do Is Dream” but this dream is an unsettling, disorienting one, in which the dreamer is slowly falling, forever.

“Dispeller” features less guitar than “PUT” – and what guitar there is if often stripped to the minimum – and more piano, and also more sonic musical – and anti-musical – sound treatments assembled, stretched, twisted, distressed, disordered…

As “Fame” indicates there’s melodic pop still at the heart of the warped songs, and many haunting moments among the sonic ruins. Woods is joined on vocals by Charlotte Forrester (WOMB) on two tracks and Lucy Hunter (Opposite Sex, Wet Specimen) on one, adding additional spectral counterpoints to Woods’ soothing croon. The album may take a few plays to re-orientate the listeners into this world, but once settled these songs are things of strange beauty.

There are moments throughout “Dispeller” that remind me of the DIY sonic experimentation of Tall Dwarfs, the damaged pop of Sparklehorse, and the hypnotic minimalism of Spaceman 3. The overwhelming sense here is of classic slow pop music warped and twisted through a kind of Twin Peaks lens; a deeply personal performance beaming from the Black Lodge’s Red Room.

“To other New Zealanders, Christchurch seems to be a desolate, xenophobic, flat city, which in the wake of a series of natural disasters is being sparsely put back together by a bunch of brutal development moguls. It’s also a city with a thriving indie rock scene, unspoiled by commercial interests and held together by bands all drawing from the same small pool of members and venues. Christchurch has a rare grit.” [From the Bandcamp notes to “PUT”]

“Yellow House” by Jim Nothing

The name’s Nothing. Jim Nothing. I like my secret alt-pop agents under-stated, DIY, and a bit rough-hewn around the edges. I like them even more when they arrive with a new album out of nowhere after several years of, well, nothing, and floor you with strange, unexpected new sounds. In this case, lo-fi, DIY, cassette release Jim Nothing has simultaneously fulfilled, exceeded, and confounded early promise. Collaborating with an avante-garde violinist/vocalist Anita Clark (Motte) is an unexpected turn for a shambling jangling fuzzy guitar pop Nothing. On the strength of the two initial songs released ahead of Jim Nothing’s “In The Marigolds” album in September, it’s a glorious combination. Here’s “Yellow House”:

It’s been 7 years since the initial run of 2 cassette EPs and a split cassette EP with Wurld Series. Since then Nothing’s alter-ego James Sullivan has been busy in all manner of bands, including drummer for Salad Boys. This time round the ubiquitous Brian Feary is drumming, while also recording, mixing, mastering “In The Marigolds”. Feary is the heart & soul of Christchurch’s underground DIY scene and Melted Ice Cream Records, a 21st century Chris Knox if you like, without the jandals and shorts.

But it’s the pairing of melodic string instrument talents with violinist and vocalist Anita Clark (her own extraordinary sound explorations under the name Motte) that gives these two initial songs (and presumably the whole album) an unexpected melodic richness and sonic balance. Clark’s violin parts on “Yellow House” evoke the dark drone spirit The Velvet Underground’s John Cale in the verse, and the melodic flight of The Go-Between’s Amanda Brown in the chorus.

The album is released on vinyl – a white and black option – and will have a European release too via Meritorio Records in Madrid, Spain. It was an instant “Buy Now” for me on the strength of these two tracks. Can’t wait to get lost in the marigolds with Jim Nothing in a few months when this is fully released.

“Colors” by Local Tourist

…And while we are in Ōtautahi Christchurch, and still with Melted Ice Cream Records, here’s something completely different from Local Tourist, also released last month. “Colors” is the opening track from a quiet album of introspection called “Other Ways of Living”:

“Other Ways of Living” also features the bassist on the previously featured Best Bets album, Joe Sampson. He’s more familiar as a guitarist, cranking out sublime noise with a variety of Christchurch bands (T54, Salad Boys, etc.) and it’s as guitarist and bassist that he appears here, but in a more subdued, reflective mood.

US born songwriter Erin Umstead was living in Christchurch, New Zealand and frequenting local live music venue Darkroom where she met bassist/guitarist Joe Sampson (Salad Boys, T54) and drummer Rory Dalley (Ben Woods Group). Local Tourist formed, However, the pandemic and visa complications halted any chance of extensive touring and Umstead was forced to leave her adopted home, but not before the group recorded this album, over her last few days in New Zealand.

The album is an immersive listen. If you are familiar with the work of Wellington’s WOMB, and American Analog Set, then you will understand the power of introspection.

“Nap Gate” by Wurld Series

Posted this song “Nap Gate” last year when it was released as a single, but now it is the first track shared ahead of the March release of the Wurld Series album “What’s Growing” so here it is again, as a fitting semi-psychedelic-Sunday aural feast:

Wurld Series has been creating little gems of EPs for a few years now. Previous releases were generally on the lo-to-medium-fidelity end of the spectrum; perfect for the DIY melodic pop with fuzzy wandering lead guitar lines.

Sure, they have always had a “Pavement-y” kind of slacker guitar pop vibe, as much from the low key singing of Wurld Series songwriter/ guitarist/ vocalist Luke Towart. But the music also weaves in a bit of the loopy off-kilter style of lead guitar that local 90s legends the 3Ds were known for (and who arguably influenced Pavement) as well as the fuzzy melodic feel-good factor from Teenage Fanclub’s “Bandwagonesque” album.

“Nap Gate” is less lo-fi than some of the previous recordings but packs all the familiar ingredients. The lead guitar parts here – from Adam Hattaway – are spectacular too, which should be no surprise if you have listened to the Adam Hattaway and the Haunters album “All Dat Love”.

The Wurld Series band is from Christchurch, NZ (the original home of Flying Nun Records) and has always had a revolving line up from release to release. Towart now sees Wurld Series as “less of a band and more of a music-making guild, with a changing line-up that depends on who is present for recording sessions at the band’s lock-up space in the industrial suburb of Woolston.”

Roll on the release of “What’s Growing” in March in a limited LP run. Here’s what they say the album contains:

“The songs contained in What’s Growing are submerged within reeling guitar, hypnotic mellotron and meditative drones. Lyrical themes include post apocalyptic living, extraterrestrial visitation, TV game show monsters and the workplace as a dreamlike medieval dystopia. At times traces of Tall Dwarfs or The 3Ds can be heard. More obvious American 90’s indie rock influences are also evident, alongside a clear strain of unsettling, pastoral British psych folk that runs throughout the album. What’s Growing is a compact statement of intent; a collage of full-noise indie rock recordings and minimal, psychedelic, and homespun artefacts.”

It’s an understatement to say “What’s Growing” promises a diverse range of intriguing sounds. Based on the reliability of every previous Wurld Series release it’s definitely worth considering pre-ordering now if you want to ensure a copy of the LP in March.

“Family Portrait Revisited” by Kool Aid

Is the Christchurch music scene only about a dozen musicians who are all interchangeably members of all of the vast multitude of fine fuzz & jangle guitar bands sprouting regularly from the South Island’s largest city?  Kool Aid provide further evidence to support this theory via their new single “Family Portrait Revisited”

Kool Aid (thankfully now shortened from a formerly longer variant involving the name of a self-styled NZ bishop and cult-leading bigot I won’t bother naming) include Jamie Stratton, Violet French, Luke Towart (Wurld Series, Adam Hattaway & The Haunters), Ben Dodd (Ben Dodd & His Organ), the ubiquitous Brian Feary (drummer in every Christchurch band this decade*), and Spencer Hall.

On the strength of “Family Portrait revisited” Kool Aid may well be the best of the bunch. Recorded at The Dogshit Factory in Christchurch, “Family Portrait Revisited” manages to combine the essence of David Kilgour’s nonchalant strum and twang with the melodic laid-back psychedelia of Rain Parade.  The more I listen to the song the more perfect it becomes. Looking forward to hearing the whole EP set for release 11 July on prolific Christchurch label Melted Ice Cream.

*Bands Brian Feary has played in include X-Ray Charles, Wurld Series, Shacklock Meth Party, Dance Asthmatics, Salad Boys, Christian Rock, and probably dozens more I’ve forgotten about or don’t know about, and if he hasn’t played drums in a band he has recorded and/or mastered their recordings and/or designed the artwork for their release. He’s the Mikey Young of the Christchurch underground scene and deserves a medal.

“Exaltation” by The Salad Boys

NZ Music Every Godzone Month! sign from Too Tone Records in Dunedin.

Our New Zealand Music Month day #28 song is from Christchurch guitar band The Salad Boys and the jangling 12-string drone of “Exaltation” from their 2018 album “This is Glue”:

Salad Boys is led by guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Joe Sampson, once of noisy Christchurch trio T54. Salad Boys is the more reflective side of Sampson’s considerable guitar-playing and songwriting talent – which “Exaltation” showcases perfectly – though the album still packs plenty of over-driven riff-rock.

Much has been made of their local influences from that cold damp city 5 hours drive south of their quake-munted Christchurch home. But as much as you can maybe hear a bit of The Clean/ Great Unwashed in the strum and jangle of “Exaltation” here, the varied guitar styles and noisy pop hooks comprising much of “This Is Glue” is actually much more in the style of  the recent crop of fine Australian guitar bands (The Stevens, Twerps, Woollen Kits et al.) who also seem to have assimilated that same perfect odd-combo of ’80s kiwi drone jangle and more polished North American guitar pop.

“TY Duncan” by Wurld Series

Shop display of re-purposed NZ Music Month poster at Too Tone Records (2010-2017) in Dunedin.

Our New Zealand Music Month treat for day 13 is the fuzzed-up guitar splendour of Christchurch band Wurld Series. Here’s “TY Duncan” from their recent digital single:

“TY Duncan” is an out-take from the “Stately & Befrothed” sessions. Wurld Series have had a morphing line-up obver the years but this song predates the current line-up of guitarist and vocalist Luke Towart with Adam Hattaway (lead guitar), Emma Hattaway (bass) and the ubiquitous Brian Feary (drums), so substitute Abi Macilquham for Emma, and Ben Woods for Adam and you have last year’s “Stately & Bethrothed” ear model. Confusing? Well, that’s rock’n’roll, Christchurch style.

What stays consistent with Wurld Series through the line-up changes is the loping nonchalant off-kilter melodic fuzzy guitar wonderfulness.

“Nap Gate” by Wurld Series

Continuing on from yesterday’s stellar album by Christchurch’s Adam Hattaway And The Haunters, here’s another new – and closely related – release from the Melted Ice Cream stable from Wurld Series. It’s a new single “Nap Eyes”.

[Note: The single release this post originally linked to has been taken down, so this is the track on the “What’s Growing” album announced for release March 2021]

There’s a bunch of familiar names from yesterday’s post. Joining guitarist and vocalist Luke Towart is Adam Hattaway (lead guitar), Emma Hattaway (bass) and the ubiquitous Brian Feary (drums).

“Nap Gate” – which will feature on the second Wurld Series album later this year – is one of the best sounding Wurld Series tunes to date. It’s less lo-fi than some of the previous recordings but packs all the familiar ingredients. Hattaway’s lead guitar parts here are spectacular too, which should be no surprise if you listened to the song from his solo album featured in the previous PopLib post yesterday.

The B-Side is an out-take from the “Stately & Befrothed” sessions. Both songs on this single are typically glorious slices of the fuzzy guitar-driven pop we’ve come to expect from Wurld Series.  Roll on the release of “What’s Growing”.

“Tunnel Vision” by Brian Tamaki and the Kool-Aid Kids

Melted Ice Cream is a record label from Christchurch. A pretty cool one (ha!). The City, on the east coast of the South Island, five hours drive north of Dunedin, was shaken apart by a series of earthquakes in 2010/2011 and much of the city centre was demolished in the aftermath. But from the rubble grows resistant weeds of underground music. “Sickest Smashes from Arson City: Legacy Edition” is a compilation celebrating those musical weeds. Here’s the first track – “Tunnel Vision”

It’s a fitting first track for the compilation album because (a) it’s a wonderfully great song, and (b) the ‘Brian Tamaki’ of the band’s name is a religious cult leader and bigot who infamously claimed the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010/2011 were ‘God’ punishing Christchurch for sins, including supporting same-sex marriage. Jerk.

It’s a great compilation, heavy on the scrappy melodic punk and bite, with a bit of experimental weirdness folded in towards to end.  Very Christchurch.

Here’s the Melted Ice Cream blurb: “Now that it’s sufficiently obsolete, MIC have decided to revive this antiquated music format, in the most proper way possible: buy this 20 track, NZ-Pressed CD and receive a 12-page booklet with extensive liner notes including bios and photos of each band, a map of Christchurch musical places, a network map of Christchurch band members featured on the compilation, extensive credits and a foreword lovingly written by Hannah Herchenbach. This is intended to be a document and keepsake of the 2018 Christchurch indie music scene. “

In the words of BTATKAK on their Fakebook page – “its a fucking banger, go buy the cd…”

“Second Hit” by Wurld Series

Day 20 of our 31 Days of May New Zealand Music Month marathon comes from Christchurch lo-fi fuzz pop specialists Wurld Series and the opening track of their “Air Goofy” album. Here’s “Second Hit”

“Second Hit” is a good introduction to the Christchurch band if you haven’t discovered them before. A blast of fuzzy guitars with a bit of tremolo and a lot of 3Ds style wild guitar shredding solos, all recorded on a 4-track cassette portastudio is mostly what we associate with Wurld Series.  However the album also unfolds with unexpected twists and turns into more experimental psychedelic pop and odd sound-collage pieces.

As an added Wurld Series bonus, here they are caught live on Lo and Behold.

As an extra added bonus, here’s their recent Live-To-Air session on Dunedin’s Radio One: