“Too Hot” by Tight Knit

The third 7″ single on Glasgow underground pop label Not Unloved is another beaut. It’s from Tight Knit and it’s “Too Hot” (with “Want You” on the flip side).

Tight Knit traveled from Australia to Glasgow in the time-honoured tradition of Australasian underground pop bands seeking their fame if not their fortune in Glasgow. By chance a CD-R of their music came to the attention of Not Unloved, which had previously released excellent 7″ singles by Vital Idles and then Current Affairs.

By “time-honoured tradition” I’m thinking of the Go-Between here, visiting Orange Juice and releasing a single on the legendary Glasgow label Postcard Records in the early 1980s. [As a side note, Orange Juice were previously called the Nu Sonics and the catalogue number of this single is NUSONIC003, and of course Not Unloved is a song by another Glasgow band we know and love; The Pastels].

I’m also thinking of The Bats, from Dunedin & Christchurch, NZ, who found themselves in Glasgow in the late 1980s as well while touring the UK and Europe, and recorded half of their “Daddy’s Highway” album there in a basement flat.

Anyway, back to this fine Tight Knit song… “Too Hot” is perfect honest garage rock from the Melbourne trio of Ange (guitar, bass and vocals), Caitie (guitar, bass and vocals) and Jamie (drums). The thrilling lead guitar bursts channel the kind of pure fierce electricity of Lou Reed’s lead guitar circa the Velvet Undergound’s “White Light/ White Heat” album.  With its combination of harmony vocals and those guitars, it’s the kind of song that would have set a volume of the Romulan Records 1960s garage rock series Girls in the Garage alight.

 

 

“Terrible” by Lewsberg

Lewsberg are from Rotterdam and their self-titled album released yesterday is a tender fusion of heady Velvet Underground influences with more European cinematic touches, storytelling, spoken word songs, and thrilling guitar freakouts. Here’s “Terrible”:

The Velvets stylistic thing also means there’s also bit of the spirit of the Modern Lovers, The Feelies and I suppose Parquet Courts in their sound. There’s certainly an element of Parquet Courts is the apocalyptic feedback guitar solos throughout the album!

Despite – or maybe because of – over-familiarity with that Velvets sound over the years I enjoy this album a lot. It’s a very worthy continuation of a style of music which is still remarkably adaptable and effective as a medium for lyrical storytelling 50 years on.

 

 

 

 

 

“Home” by Foxy Morons

We first met Foxy Morons back in January through tracks from two fine Hobart, Tasmania underground music compilations. Here’s another song from them – “Home” – which comes from a self-titled 6-song cassette EP, released last month by Wrong Place (right Time) Records.

The music on “Home” – all languid strummed guitars and cascading fairground organ – sounds like it could have come from an early single by The Chills played at the wrong speed.

The guitars here are strummed in the classic Velvet Underground chug. Attitude is elevated above slavish attention to technical mastery, as it always should be. It’s all about the song and the performance and the experience it represents.

“Home” is a simple song about trying to avoid returning to a cold house, and looking for a dog. In the fog of course. As with Dunedin bands, it appears weather, cold houses and pets offer plenty of inspiration for songwriting in Hobart, Tasmania.

There’s plenty of other fine songs on the EP and the cassette looks like it’s getting another production run so head on over  to the Wrong Place (Right Time) Bandcamp page.  While you are there, check the back catalogue items from Foxy Morons and other Tasmanian lo-fi & DIY music gems on display.

 

 

The Clean & The Velvet Underground

The Clean have been on a tour of sorts this past week. It has not been your regular kind of tour, but one involving playing some intimate small venues in out of the way places. A two-night ‘residency’ at the legendary Chick’s Hotel near Dunedin (which included guest appearances by founding member Peter Gutteridge and also from Martin Phillipps) was followed by a surf-magazine sponsored show near Tauranga and an appearance at the Camp A Low Hum music festival near Wellington. Tonight they play at Puppies, a small Wellington venue.

Here’s some fine two-camera video footage from their Mt Maunganui (near Tauranga) show last Friday, shot by Stuart Page/ Brilliant Films. It was a special free event “Loose But In Time” sponsored by Damaged Goods Zine & Corona, held at Major Toms, Mt Maunganui Sat 8 February 2014. It’s their set closer – a ripping version of The Velvet Underground’s “I Can’t Stand It”.

The Velvet Underground were – and still are – a huge influence on musicians from Dunedin. Perhaps it is the minimal technique, fusion of art, literature and sheer bloody-minded noise mixed with gothic beauty of subversive pop.

There’s an extensive history of The Clean in two parts here on NZ’s excellent music archive website Audioculture.