DISPATCHES FROM NEW ZEALAND

Most people in New Zealand have bad taste in music. And who can blame us really. We’re so fucking far away it’s like being at the bad end of Chinese whispers, except it’s worse because there’s a bunch of continents playing and the whisper has been gang raped by Lady Gaga, U2 and Tikki Tane. As you can imagine, the damage is often irreparable. Sometimes though, we do spit out kids who have the right idea which leads to some pretty good music, as well as a few decent festies – AKA Big Day Out & Laneways. Here are three NZ bands worth listening to from each. If you’ve heard all six you’re either a Kiwi or a massive nerd.
BIG DAY OUT
BANDICOOT Bandicoot are three Auckland high-schoolers who’ll make you ashamed of your boring, misspent youth. They have cooler dance moves, cooler parties (check out their myspace photos) and cooler taste than most people you know. They’re noisy, hard, and fast. Their song “Silence Is Golden” is pretty good. Try suck some magic youthful blood from their music before you get too old to care.
THE VEILS While there’s a time and a place for music that makes you want to jump around, there’s also a time and a place for music that make you want to lie amongst candles and empty red wine bottles while drowning in your bleeding heart. The Veils are three boys and a girl who have been breaking hearts and melting faces since for ages. Their sound is dramatic, melancholic and has a killer lyrical backbone. Of killer lyrics.
LADYHAWKE Ladyhawke is a 1985 fantasy film directed by Richard Donner, starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. It is also a good looking female singer.


LANEWAYS
THE NAKED AND FAMOUS There is one genre of music that is extremely underrated. This is called ‘Getting Ready’ music. Guaranteed to make you feel tougher and hotter and prepare you for dancing the night away, The Naked And Famous have a fun pop-based sound with loud guitars and light, dancey keyboard notes thrown in the mix. Getting ready is usually funner way than the actual night itself and if someone was smart enough to have ‘Getting Ready’ parties The Naked and Famous would own the playlist for sure.
THE 3D’S The best thing to come out of Dunedin, ever. And that goes for everything, not just music. The 3D’s came about in the 90s and sound like Pavement on a five day bender. They’ve played with the aforementioned, as well as Nirvana, The Buzzcocks, The Lemonheads, as well as U-fricken-2. They should have been a way bigger deal than they actually were, but coming from a tiny town in a country that sometimes gets left off the map ain’t a bad excuse. And on the bright side, they are responsible for inspiring other good NZ bands, AKA:
SURF CITY You have to be a bit of a dick not to like Surf City. And let’s face it, being just a small section of penis would be pretty frustrating. Musically, they’re a combination of lots of good shit. What’s also good about Surf City is they’re totally mellow and play kind of hunched over on stage and most of the time look at the ground, which for us girls, just multiplies their appeal. They were in NY for CMJ recently and they played exactly the same way there too. One listen and you’ll be OBSESSED. So there you have it. Even though we’re as far away as you can get and our livestock outnumbers our humans