“Turn Out The Lights” by Water

Auckland band Water have an album called “Supa” out next month. Here’s the opening track “Turn Out the Lights” to insinuate its way into your senses with a winning mix of jangling rhythm guitar and snaking saturated fuzz lead guitar.

If your favourite bands are Wurld Series and Kool Aid (current bands from Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand) and Pavement (1990s US band who were influenced by bands from New Zealand) and then Water is perfect for you.

Wurld Series and Kool Aid feature inter-changeable line-ups of overlapping band members from the Christchurch scene. Water are also made up of members of other past and present Auckland bands, like Rackets (Oscar Davies-Kay and Vince Nairn),  Eyes No Eyes, and Couchmaster (Rikki Sutton), Surf City (Mike Ellis), Nae Nae Express (Mason Fairey), The Mint Chicks (Joel BB) and Greenfog (Elliot Lawless).

Fuzz + Jangle + Melody = Water.

“Carisbrook” by The Naenae Express

Carisbrook was the home of cricket and rugby in Dunedin until 2011 when Dunedin’s new covered stadium was opened. Only 10 cricket test matches were played at Carisbrook but some were the stuff of sporting legend. “Carisbrook” is a song from the self-titled album by Auckland band The Naenae Express about the NZ cricketer the band is named after, and his heroic last wicket stand in a test match at Carisbrook in 1985.

“There’s plenty of runs to get/ but nobody’s got them yet.” Chatfield came in to bat at No. 11, and proceeded to score an unbeaten 21 off 84 balls, the last wicket partnership with his captain adding the crucial 50 runs that New Zealand needed to win the match. It remained Chatfield’s highest Test score.

The band operating under the name The Naenae Express create a peculiarly summery New Zealand kind of sports-themed psychedelic pop, at times incorporating a kind of stoned Pavement and Beta Band vibe. Don’t know much about The Naenae Express other than Scott Kendall being the cricket-loving genius behind these well-crafted tunes. The self-titled album is out via their bandcamp page, with a cassette to come sometime.

“Rip KF” by Wurld Series

Christchurch guitar-botherers Wurld Series are back with a full-length album called “Air Goofy”, fittingly available on cassette. Here’s the second song “Rip KF” for you:

It’s ‘fittingly’ on cassette because it was recorded on cassette, via a Tascam 424 4-track cassette recorder, staple of a generation of bedroom DIY artists in previous decades, and it seems again today.

As we’ve heard from previous tunes and EPs and songs like “Orkly Kid” and “Rabbit” which are both included here, the spirit of early rough-genius Pavement is undeniably strong in Wurld Series at times – twisting fuzzed out guitars and stream of unconscious life lyrical flights.  But so is the spirit of the 3-Ds from closer to home, who arguably influenced Pavement with their eccentric lead guitar shapes and angles atop lurching fuzzed out guitar skronk-pop.

If “Rip KF” – complete with shared lead vocal between guitarist/ vocalist Luke Towart and guest vocalist Tyne Gordon – represents the more middle-of-a-rough-road-to-nowhere melodic guitar pop side of “Air Goofy” then there’s much variety on either side of that median. Check out the thrilling “LT’s Struggle” for an alternative example.

Another great addition to both the Wurld Series and the Melted Ice Cream label catalogues. Don’t just take PopLib’s word for it. UK music blog Did Not Chart has also been singing the praises of this rough diamond.