Wellington band The Dims have released two EPs in the past six months, with the latest installment entitled No Chemical Ills. Drawing inspiration from cult Kiwi acts like The Gordons and The Dead C, the trio condense their sound into distorted songs best described as ‘noise-punk’, and lasting only a couple of minutes.

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My favourite at the moment, from New Zealand, which also gave Lord of the Rings its set. That was the best thing about the film, which as far as I can make out, was about some midgets trying to offload a ring. Apparently it took them ages: three movies to be precise. And they had a really powerful wizard that could’ve done the job in about five minutes. But he didn’t. What a dick.

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It would be great to be able to call Aussie band Dropbears‘ one hit wonders for this slippery pop song from 1982. But they weren’t even that. Instead, outside of a few Australian loyalists, this killer track — Fun Lovin’ — slipped into obscurity, only resurrected in its full finery on backward looking culture blogs. Oh, wait, is that us?

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My favourite record label, the New Zealand-based Flying Nun — home to seminal acts such as The Chills, The Bats, The Clean, and The Verlaines — has been reinvigorated recently with the return of the label’s founder, Roger Shepherd, to steer the reigns and return this wonderful low-fi cottage industry back to its rightful glory. To mark the occasion, NZ On Screen has launched a collection of classic Flying Nun music videos, curated by Shepherd, including this frightfully progressive effort (it was made in 1981) from that doyen of Kiwi indie-pop, Chris Knox.

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When I was teenager, I was obsessed with the bands that seeped out of sleepy Dunedin, in New Zealand’s ruggedly beautiful South Island. There was an absolute contrast back then between those acts on the Flying Nun label, presided over with paternal wariness by the godfather of low-fi pop, Chris Knox, and the slicker bands that emanated out of the upper reaches of the North Island. I liked the immediacy and the accessibility of the South Island acts, particularly The Chills, The Clean and The Bats. This grainy, weather-beaten footage captures The Bats at their melodic best; bass clunkers, pasty faces and all.

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Oh boy! The Mockers were the poppiest Kiwi band that no-one outside of the Shaky Isles ever heard of. Take a trip back to the 80s and be prepared to dance.

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The Chills were the first band I ever saw. Well, actually, they were the first band I never saw, despite my best intentions. I was fifteen at the time, and my friend got word that the seminal Flying Nun act, who hailed from the deepest, darkest trenches of Dunedin, New Zealand, were to play a show that night at the now long gone Max’s in Petersham, Sydney. We had to go. It was The Chills, the very symbol of low-fi sullen rebellion, with their ruddy cheeks and out of tune guitars. So we whacked handfulls of gel in our hair and resolved to sneak our way past the doorman. Only my friend arrived at the venue a little earlier than me (his Dad was clearly a better driver than mine) and promptly sauntered into the venue, while I was turned away for ‘obviously being a minor’. Dammit! They were probably better on record anyway.
[audio:http://www.unpiano.com/music/wp-content/music/sound_advice/pink_frost.mp3]

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New Zealand-born, globe-trotting, communal-living, psych rockers, The Datsuns, have a new album, a relatively-new drummer and a new living set-up, so expect something fresh from the Anitpodean ex-pats. ‘The new record has a lot of different styles and influences’, says The Datsuns guitarist and vocalist, Christian. ‘When we were doing this record a great thing was that we could try different things that we hadn’t done in the past’, he says, thanks to the addition of new drummer, Ben, offering as an example: ‘The last track on the record is an eight minute psychedelic song; it was a pop song but we turned it psychedelic. We said to Ben ‘play psychedelic drums’ and he did. It was completely improvised. He enabled us to do anything we wanted to do’.

Ben actually joined the Datsuns fold around two years ago, when the band’s previous drummer quit just three days before a major tour.

‘Ben’s a very old friend of ours. Between him and our old drummer we’re about the only five guys in (their home) town who play musical instucments’, Christian laughs.

When the previous drummer quit, the band rang Ben to see if he could fill in.

‘He was really hung over, washing dishes and I don’t think he really got what we were talking about’, Christian explains.

‘He rang back about five minutes later and said ‘yes’. He learnt our whole catalogue in three days. He’s been with us for two years now. He’s a really great drummer who can play a lot of different styles from metal to jazz’.

So, with new creative blood coursing through the band’s veins, The Datsuns’ new album, Head Stunts was conceived. But not without a few headaches, first.

‘We all lived together, and always have done the whole time we’ve been together. It’s quite ridiculous, we’re like The Monkees’, Christian laughs.

‘It’s just been recently that we’ve moved apart. I’m the only one left in London now (after the band lived there together for three years). Dolf lives in Stokholm and our drummer is in New Zealand.

‘We’re trying to make it as difficult for ourselves as possible.

‘We recorded the album in Sweden. We were going to record in Germany and we all moved there and lived there for nine months. We rented a flat and rehearsed every day. We did lot of jamming in Germany. We were almost at one point going to do a really psychedelic record, we had all these really long space jams. We got pretty psychedelic in Germany.

‘It was very beautiful (in Germany) but we got very bored and didn’t like the way the record was turning out, so we went to Sweden.

‘Sweden’s really great. They’re really into rock and roll’, he says.

‘(Recording) was a lot of fun. The studio we used was full of old equipment. You couldn’t step anywhere without stepping on stuff.

‘Half of it didn’t work, but that’s the fun bit, plugging in and seeing what you get.’

What they got, Christian explains, is: ‘an eclectic mix of rock and roll’.

‘That is what I like about rock and roll — you can do so many different thing and it’s still rock and roll.

‘This is really what we’re all about. It’s a very good representation of who we are. I’m excited about playing these songs. I hope people enjoy them.

‘We’re all fans of rock and roll and that’s the point of intersection’, Christian explains of the band members’ influences.

‘If everyone in the band had an iPod you’d see a lot of different stuff going on there, that’s what makes us interesting. We all like rock and roll but come at it from a different point of view. I’m into Zeppelin, Dolf’s into the Beatles. When we have a song everyone will see it in a slightly different way and it’s the intersection of different view points that makes it interesting.

‘It’s an interesting record if you’re a fan of rock and roll’.

Interesting also, is how the band came up with the album title, Head Stunts.

‘Naming the record is probably the hardest thing’, Christian says, ‘it seems like it’d be easy to pick a name, but it’s not.

‘One day when we were in Germany, Phil (lead guitarist) found this wall-sized piece of cardboard in the street and dragged it back to the flat and started writing on it. He was writing anagrams for stuff, writing song titles. He covered the whole piece of cardboard with all these names and poems.

‘One of the anagrams was Head Stunts (an anagram of The Datsuns)’.

[audio:http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/22/1451852/02%20MF%20From%20Hell.mp3]

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This live performance of Liam Finn’s Second Chance is the reason why music cuts so deep to the soul. The guy is giving it everything, and then a little extra on top. And, no, I’m not talking about the beard.

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Oh man, what I wouldn’t give to be able to sing like Neil Finn. His voice rasps with all the sincerity and integrity of a thousand heartfelt melodies. Heck, I’d probably trade my prized collection of Archie comics for just the chorus on this song. Driving Me Mad? You betcha(dupa). This man is a treasure. Bow low indeed.

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Back in the day, New Zealand pop absurdists, Split Enz were the finest damn Australasian band around. This track, I Walk Away, off their final album — Spellbound — is their ultimate moment: a hefty dose of pure melodic majestry, wrapped around the aching lyrics and quirky arrangements of genius frontman, Neil Finn.

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I spent the formative first six years of my life in Wellington, New Zealand, a beautiful windswept city framed by a magnificent harbour in one direction and a stunning collection of green, rolling hills in the other. It was here, on a return visit many years later and deep amongst the clipped accents and ruddy faces of the weather-beaten locals, that I stumbled upon the vast catalogue of the then Dunedin based record label Flying Nun. And what a roster of acts they housed — The Chills, The Bats, The Clean, Tall Dwarfs, The Verlaines, and my favourite guitar-pop band, Straitjacket Fits. The music that Flying Nun released during the mid-80s to mid-90s was largely low-fi, unpolished indie genius. It was melodic, simple and unaffected. It had a sense of realness about it, as if it were recorded for the band and a handful of fans only, and if anyone else got it, then that was just a bonus. Yet many did. The Flying Nun roster gained cult status in Europe and amongst those in the know on the US college circuit before, in the finest traditions of great pop bands, they all imploded or just gave up or morphed into something else altogether. So all we have left is a pile of memories and a great heap of poorly mastered CDs. Oh, and this clip from the Straitjacket Fits for their song She Speeds, one of the highlights of this low-fi rebellion.

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