New Zealand masters of the heavy Beastwars have gone from strength to strength on the back of their live shows and their great debut LP. Ahead of the release of the second album they’ve pressed up two of the tracks on ‘glow in the dark’ 7″ vinyl. You can check out The Sleeper (B-side) below, a dark ominous lumbering monster of a track and the … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Beastwars release first taste of their new LP
PRESS RELEASE Before Flying Nun, before any ‘Dunedin Sound’, there was Toy Love. Now more than 30 years later, the five-piece (Chris Knox, Alec Bathgate, Paul Kean, Jane Walker and Mike Dooley) are set to receive both the New Zealand Herald Legacy Award at this year’s New Zealand Music Awards and an induction into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame. To celebrate, Flying Nun … Continue reading NEWS: Flying Nun & Real Groovy Records release new Toy Love compilation LP
by Chris Familton Residents of Auckland New Zealand, Cool Cult are a post punk trio who released their six track self-titled EP a few months ago and though I was impressed on first listen it is only now, coming back to it again that I’m struck by how mature and sonically engaging the songs are. Comparisons with fellow NZ’ers Die Die! Die! are inevitable as … Continue reading EP REVIEW: Cool Cult | Cool Cult
by Chris Familton Nearing a quarter of a century together and well overdue for a greatest hits compilation, Shihad have put together a 2CD collection that reinforces the claim that they are one of the greatest rock bands to come out of New Zealand. The best-of travels from their early speed metal origins on the Metallica-aping It, through their industrial and post punk influenced debut … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Shihad | The Meanest Hits
by Chris Familton Dissonance and controlled aggression have always been hallmarks of rock n roll, it is just the context that has changed as the pop culture landscape has evolved. Over time the emergence of sub genres and sub sub genres has been an important factor in the continued relevance and progression of rock music. Post rock, noise rock, math rock, post punk – call … Continue reading EP REVIEW: Sweater | Sweater
Auckland, NZ’s Heart Attack Alley are a harmonica driven blues trio featuring members of Vietnam War, Drab Doo Riffs and Supergroove and they’ve just released a video for their track Don’t Waste My Time. Their debut album Living In Hell is in the can and will be out October 12th via Voodoo Rhythm Records. European Album Release Tour 2012.10.04 Amsterdam (NL) @ Winston Kingdom 2012.10.05 Den Haag (NL) @ … Continue reading WATCH: Heart Attack Alley | Don’t Waste My Time
Ahead of its release date of August 17th you can stream the new Bailterspace album Strobosphere in full over at the NZ Herald website. There are also pre-order options available from the band’s label Arch Hill Recordings. The album is also out internationally on Fire Records on August 20th. STREAM: Bailterspace | Strobosphere Continue reading LISTEN: Stream the new Bailterspace album Strobosphere
by C. Familton New Zealand’s Lawrence Arabia (James Milne) set himself up as an exponent of literate pop on his second album Chant Darling and though it was a clever collection of songs there were moments when they veered into quirky territory that felt a tad contrived. He has learnt from those missteps and taken his writing and arranging to an impressive place on his … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Lawrence Arabia | The Sparrow
Beach Pigs are a quartet of melodic noise popsters out of Auckland, New Zealand who have been making waves with their early single releases and their self-titled EP . You can order their releases direct from their label, the most excellent Arch Hill Recordings . Dahnu Graham:Vocals Daniel Kerr: Guitar Suren Unka: Drums Billy Robertson:Bass Guitar. Continue reading ds recommends: Beach Pigs
by C. Familton Opossom is essentially Kody Nielson, formerly of The Mint Chicks. When they split, his brother Ruban formed Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Kody retreated to his bedroom to write, play on and record Electric Hawaii. The album retains much of the bright energy of Nielson’s former band but it also decidedly more trippy and psychedelic, awash with an array of electronic and tropicalia … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Opossom | Electric Hawaii
Radiohead have today announced a series of Australian shows this November plus one show in Auckland in New Zealand. The band last played NZ in 1998 and Australia in 2004. TOUR DATES Tuesday 6 November – Vector Arena, Auckland Friday 9 November – Brisbane Entertainment Centre Monday 12 November – Sydney Entertainment Centre Tuesday 13 November – Sydney Entertainment Centre Friday 16 November – Rod … Continue reading NEWS: Radiohead return to Australia & New Zealand in November…
written by Chris Familton The Bats are about to celebrate 30 years as a band in 2012 and one that can still boast the original line-up. Not many groups can lay claim to that milestone yet the New Zealand quartet have quietly gone about crafting a considerable body of work that has never taken drastic directional changes or seen them seeking to box above their … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: The Bats | Free All The Monsters
Doubtful Sounds 