Oh man! Take me back. Yup, drag me kicking and screaming into those halcyon days of the mid to the late 80s when all I cared about was Archie Comics, extra full cream milk, and getting my hands the latest release off New Zealand’s Flying Nun label. This track — Pink Frost — from Dunedin band, The Chills, is a window back to a time when melody ruled, guitars were always slightly out of tune, and haircuts were just five dollars down at your local barber shop.

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Back in the day, when I was a skinny teenager on the great pedestal of life, I had a real obsession for the understated, low-fi, deliciously melodic and somewhat blurry sounds of the New Zealand Flying Nun bands. I would pool my meagre savings and canvas the local record shops, scouring the racks for the latest cassettes from The Bats, The Chills, The Clean, and, later, The Straitjacket Fits. There was just something very romantic about the music that emanated from those permanently green hills of Dunedin. It seemed to resonate with a depth and a sense of integrity that only four chords and a Chris Knox four-track can provide. Despite the kitschness of some of the trends (Cabbage Patch Dolls, anyone?), the 1980s were wonderfully optimistic times. And, despite its minor key refrain, the Flying Nun ‘sound’ (which founder Roger Shepherd denies ever existed), was always exciting to me. It was unpretentious yet ambitious, as this track — Heavenly Pop Hit by The Chills — suggests.