NZ’s Finest Underground Acts Partner with US Labels

PopMatters has selected a sampling of essential tracks by 15 of New Zealand’s finest underground pop acts in anticipation of a forthcoming Bats reissue and a Clean anthology – and with hopes for additional vault-clearing reissues to come.

“Thanks to partnerships with US indie labels, some of the biggest names in ‘Kiwi’ rock and pop have received a fresh look recently,” Mike Noren writes.

“In July, the Clean’s Anthology – containing material from 1981 to 1996 – will get a deluxe reissue of its own, thanks to Merge Records.”

“But if you’re looking for a single track to exemplify all the things that made the Clean special, the 1982 single ‘Getting Older’ might be the best place to start. Sawing guitars, trumpet, viola, snaps, rattles, and backing vocals all pile together, while [David] Kilgour’s voice forces its way through the fray to deliver the darkly humorous lyrical hook: ‘You’re getting older …Why don’t you do yourself in?’ Best heard on headphones at a loud volume, it’s a roaring mass of shifting textures, throwing all its weight behind a perfect pop song.”

PopMatters also include clips from The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, The Dead C, Chris Knox, The Swingers, The Verlaines and Tall Dwarfs, amongst others.

Original article by Mike Noren, PopMatters, May 29 2014.