It's OK, It's Alright, Oh Yeah!

A Brief History of New Zealand's Rock Underground

BY RAF SPIELMAN

The frustration pent up over how bloated and self-important rock music had become in the mid-70s found its fantastic release in the punk explosion of 1976 and 1977. Centered in New York and England, the movement stood for the upheaval of the decadence rock music had come to represent, and celebrated the new ideals of brevity, urgency, violence and primitive musicianship. But it was not without its own decadence and self-importance. The initial punk movement quickly crumbled under the pressure of its own weight and the media blitz that descended on its outlandish fashion and blatant drug use.

From those epicenters of New York and England, however, weird aftershocks were felt around the world even while the initial movement disintegrated. Groups who scavenged ideals from the ruins of the punk movement began forming and releasing records almost immediately. By 1978, a new trend with surprisingly global appeal was apparent. In Glasgow, Scotland, Orange Juice released their first single, "Falling and Laughing" that year. Their sound was loose, lo-fi and upbeat in a way that was indebted to punk, but wry instead of aggressive, sarcastic instead of cynical, and maybe most importantly, vulnerable in a way unknown to punk's utter detachment. Similarly, Australia's Go-Betweens' debut 45, "Lee Remick," has the same degree of technical skill your typical punk delinquents could muster but is catchy, irreverent and endearingly good natured. The wonderful, clamorous, Kleenex formed in Switzerland in 1978, as did the sublimely minimalist Young Marble Giants in Cardiff, Wales. Though the initial punk fervor had imploded, it was, nonetheless, an exciting time musically, maybe even more so than the few years that led up to it. These new bands eagerly took advantage of the openness the mood of the era afforded them without the cynicism and posturing that plagued the first punk bands, and the few years at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s saw a proliferation of unique sounds and approaches. Different from the "post-punk" sound of groups like Gang of Four, Public Image Ltd., or the Fall, who typified punk's cynicism and detachment, the new attitude was considerably more lighthearted, its energy less dour and aggressive.

New Zealand, too, felt the influence of this exuberantly creative atmosphere, and in that ripe year of 1978, the brothers David and Hamish Kilgour joined up with their friend Peter Gutteridge to form the Clean in the college town of Dunedin. Though in their first half-dozen years of existence the band's influence didn't reach beyond the shores of their native island, their unconventional approach and hometown popularity marked the beginning of a legacy of New Zealand indie-pop whose influence is still felt today, both through the groups that sprung from it and through groups like the Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel and the Magnetic Fields who fell in love with the sound of young New Zealand.

Kiwi Rock

The Clean's first incarnation lasted until 1980, when after briefly breaking up, the Kilgour brothers reformed the group with bassist Robert Scott. "Tally Ho," the Clean's first single, followed in 1981, a seminal release both because it managed to chart in New Zealand despite its $50 recording budget, and because it was the motivation for Roger Shepherd to start Flying Nun, a record label that would come to be synonymous with the New Zealand underground scene. The song itself is an irresistibly catchy and endearing pop gem. Clocking in at just over two and a half minutes and driven by a chiming organ riff, "Tally Ho" is blissful, simple and melodic in a way that recalls and stands equal to mid-60s greats like the Rolling Stones or the Kinks without actually sounding derivative of them. The handful of EPs and singles the band put out before disbanding again in 1983, which were made up of live and home recordings, expanded on the sound of their first single considerably without ever losing its sense of excitement or uniqueness. Despite, or maybe because of, the sloppy playing and low-fidelity of the sound quality, the brilliance of these songs is unmistakable. From the upbeat playfulness of "Beatnik" and "Billy Two," to the propulsive, extended grooves of "Point That Thing Somewhere Else" and "Quickstep," to the pop sensibilities of "Whatever I Do Is Right" and "Thumbs Off," the Clean covered a lot of ground but covered it well. The unflagging sense of clarity, simplicity and melody that runs throughout these songs sets them among some of most exceptional rock songs ever recorded.

The Clean disbanded in 1983. They would reform in the late 80s and continue to release music, but after this break, our story shifts to another band. In the wake of the Clean, bassist Robert Scott formed the Bats as an outlet for his folky pop songs. By this point Flying Nun had grown into a respectable label that boasted an impressive roster of New Zealand bands like the Tall Dwarfs and the Chills who would both tour and release records overseas. The label was the natural home for Scott's new project and the first Bats EP, By Night, was released in 1984. From the very beginning, the Bats were a remarkably well-developed band, enough so that their latest album, released this last October, would be recognizable to someone only familiar with their first releases. After two more EPs, the Bats' debut album, Daddy's Highway, appeared in 1987. Daddy's Highway is a shimmering, blissful record laden with indie-pop gems that border on the sublime. Though the Bats' sound is not entirely innovative, it is certainly heavenly; jangly guitars, punchy bass, snappy drumming, some folksy violin and lovely boy-girl harmonies. The model was the rock and pop traditions of the 1960s, but a distinctively New Zealand style, one which was becoming more and more defined, is unmistakable. The Bats' sound, coupled with Scott's effortless song writing, has carried the group fruitfully for two decades and counting.

All this time, the Tall Dwarfs had been a major guiding force behind the scene. The duo, Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate, started the Enemy, New Zealand's first punk band, in 1977 and following its demise, a new wave group called Toy Love, which lasted until 1979 or 1980. Though these groups weren't noticeably "New Zealand" in their sound, the very fact that they were local bands playing forward-looking music paved the way for groups like the Clean. Chris Knox even helped record most of the early Clean material. Tall Dwarfs sprung up in the immediate wake of Toy Love and released their first EP on the Flying Nun label in 1981. Though their musical vision was never quite as engaging or well executed as that of the Clean or the Bats, it was still very innovative and the band was pivotal to the entire scene. The first EPs (and everything that would come after) were recorded by the band themselves and embody the buzzing haziness of the lo-fi aesthetic. Playing without a drummer, they were free to let their songs wander with a characteristic looseness. Sonically, the group was restless and the early recordings are marked by their constant experimentation and the incorporation of unusual elements into their sound, from snippets of found-sound, to peculiar percussion, to dramatic use of stereo, to strange tape effects. The songs themselves were fairly grounded, however. Acoustic guitar-based, they often recall the folky rock songs of the 1960s and 1970s, though with a tendency towards the nonsensical or sometimes bizarre.

Where You'll Find Me Now

Perhaps the most striking thing about the Tall Dwarfs' early EPs to the modern listener is hearing how significant their influence (in particular their debut, On Avery Island) was on Neutral Milk Hotel, one of the most singular bands of 1990s. The band refined the Tall Dwarfs' buzzing, acoustic guitar driven sound and even borrowed their penchant for strange sound collage and reedy, distorted keyboard lines. Lyrically, too, the groups echo one another. Though the Tall Dwarfs were usually irreverent or silly, their best songs were often the ones that revealed a darker, more disturbing side. "All My Hollowness To You" and "Beauty" contain the same sort of unsettling lyrics that are characteristic of Neutral Milk Hotel.

The connection is more substantial than just these two groups, though. It's significant that Tall Dwarfs, the Bats and the Clean were still active and releasing music in the early 1990s. In the heyday of the grunge sound typified by groups like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the Melvins, the New Zealand bands were still playing their melodic, 1960s-inspired indie-pop, a fact which made them the natural brethren to and inspiration for the similarly and anachronistically 1960s-inspired music scene in Athens, Georgia, then first getting underway. This tight-knit community included groups like Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Apples in Stereo, and, later, Of Montreal and Circulatory System. In 1997, Neutral Milk Hotel played a gig with Chris Knox in Athens, putting him up for the night there, and just this year Tall Dwarfs went on tour with the reformed Olivia Tremor Control. Additionally, Cloud Recordings, run by John Fernandes of Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System, reissued what are probably Tall Dwarfs' most solid efforts, 1990's Weeville and 1991's Fork Songs, this October.

The New Zealand scene's influence on the music we listen to today was greater than through those Athens groups. Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields has mentioned Flying Nun's the Chills as a band he listens to and had the Bats' Robert Scott and Tall Dwarfs' Chris Knox sing on songs for his The 6ths side-project (the track with Scott is called "Heaven In a Black Leather Jacket," reminiscent of the Chills' "I Love My Leather Jacket"). The Clean's David Kilgour is now on Merge records, who also released the wonderful Clean retrospective Anthology in 2003. Merge is the home of artists like the Magnetic Fields, Arcade Fire and Destroyer, bands who are currently enjoying a high profile and a considerable amount of influence. In 2000, a Clean tribute album featured contributions from indie-rock luminaries Guided By Voices and Pavement.

In addition to the recent reissues of music by Tall Dwarfs, Toy Love and the Clean, many of those flagship artists are still making vital music. David Kilgour released the well-received Frozen Orange last year and the Bats' first album in a decade, the really, truly excellent (not just in the "good for a band making music for so long" kind of way) At the National Grid, came out in October. Though the New Zealand scene has remained on the fringe of indie-rock culture for the last two and a half decades, the belle of independent-minded musicians and discerning listeners, hopefully the recent renewal of interest in its rich legacy will strike a chord with a new generation of music fans. As a piece of graffiti in their hometown of Dunedin reads, "God save the Clean."

Raf Spielman B'07 practically invented cotton candy.

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