“Honeycomb” by Dead Little Penny

Auckland guitar+synth dark-pop band Dead Little Penny have released an album’s-worth of their melodic sludgy Gothic fuzzfest called “Urge Surfing”. The opening track “Honeycomb” has been out for over a year, but it’s such a brilliant dark fuzz-pop earworm of a tune, so the best starting place to start the process of syringing your ears with crunchy square-wave guitar and synth tones and dream-pop vocals.

Dead Little Penny are vocalist/ songwriter/ guitarist Hayley Smith, drummer/synth player Simon Buxton, and guitarist/bassist Sean Martin-Buss.

The dark grainy soundscapes are heavy on atmosphere. It’s a contemporary take on the kind of synth-driven melodic fuzz pop of Young Hellions and late era day Jesus and Mary Chain, with some of Curve‘s rhythmic dance-floor suppleness and a bit of dark-wave synth pop added in for good measure.  

“Sink” by Faux Machismo

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

Our New Zealand Music Month day #25 song comes from Faux Machismo. Here’s the ominous crushing stoner-witch-doom-grunge of “Sink”:

Faux Machismo is Maeve Munro on guitar and vocals and Anna Ridley on drums and vocals. “Sink” is one of 4 songs on an EP also available on cassette.

Munro was, until a few years ago, an Auckland-based musician (Young Hellions, Cat Venom, Bengal Lights), now located in the small but significant NZ underground music enclave in Leeds, Yorkshire, in the U (for the time being) K.

Although the mood is set on pitch-black sludgy doom metal (think early Black Sabbath rehearsal room DIY recording vibes) there’s still a solid melodic and hypnotic heart to the songs that will be familiar to fans of Munro’s music as Young Hellions.

 

“Fractures and Cacophony” by Young Hellions

Young Hellions songs appear like ghosts sporadically, when you least expect them, and most need them. Here’s the splendidly fuzzed up, woozy new “Fractures And Cacophony” for your listening pleasure.

It’s a fine distillation of the most compelling elements of heavy shoegaze, gothic synth-pop and melodic grunge, weaving melodic pop hooks – and another great song title/ chorus phrase – through the sonic mass of abrasive and swooping guitar interplay.

Young Hellions is Auckland musician Maeve Munro (Bengal Lights, Cat Venom) currently based in Leeds, UK. If you’ve missed the back-catalogue check the first single “Best Witchcraft is Geometry” and  the self-titled 4 song EP it was subsequently included on.

According to Muzai Records “Fractures and Cacophony” was to be released on 22 July. I’ll update this post with a link to any purchase options once they appear. Hopefully it will also be available via Muzai Records’ bandcamp page.

‘Page Seventeen’ by Young Hellions

Let’s head out of Dunedin (everyone eventually does…) and check the underworld of Auckland’s western suburbs for signs of underground pop.

Young Hellions (black magic descendants of Bengal Lights and Cat Venom) is/are the best thing to come out of Auckland since [insert name of favourite underground Auckland band here].

‘Page Seventeen’ here has all the dark energy of a doomgaze band (if that’s not already a thing, I’m inventing it right now) fronted by Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon.

You’ll find Young Hellions’ splendid self-titled debut EP previewed and a link to purchase here. It’s on Muzai Records – long-time champion of the Auckland underground (and Dunedin – they are the label the mighty Astro Children are on).

Hopefully we will see Young Hellions play in Dunedin this year. Lucky Auckland subterraneans have their chance at the Last Exit to Muzai celebration on 17 May at Wine Cellar. Tickets are only $10 and available here.

‘Sympathetic Magic’ by Young Hellions

Two posts in a day… I know. Last one was something from a young woman from 50 years ago. Now from a young woman from the present day. Both joined together by… (thinks real hard for some thematic link)…. shoegaze! Corki Ray’s phased recording on “Whirlwind” from 1964 was proto-shoegaze in my book; the seeds of that miasmatic sound-swirl of the 1990s.

Young Hellions, from the suburban ennui sprawl of Auckland’s inner West, is Maeve Munro, once of the terrific neo-punk two-piece Bengal Lights from about 2008 and then, more recently, the minimalist synth pop of Cat Venom.

Young Hellions is a whole new level of DIY homespun musical witchcraft; placing the entrails of shoegaze, goth, post-punk and sumptuous dark pop into a large reverberating cauldron & giving it a stir & creating a potion to entrance anyone who listens.

So here is the glorious (and it IS) “Sympathetic Magic” from a new digital EP on Muzai Records. While “Sympathetic Magic” is the single why not soak up the whole 4 song EP here:

Then whistle over to Muzai Records & buy youself the EP. Actually you’ll have to whistle over to Flying Out Records as it is exclusively available from their website.