Ancestors

Written by Strypey on 2025-01-17 at 11:00

In late 1980s/ early 1990s Aotearoa corporate record labels hadn't really discovered local music in a big way yet. But despite that - or even because of it - there was a thriving musical underground.

Of course it included plenty of bands who worked in identifiable genres. But also record-addled mavericks, who ate genres for breakfast, and sweated multi-genre genius out of their collective armpits as they played incendiary live shows.

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[#]music #Aotearoa #NZ

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Written by Strypey on 2025-01-17 at 11:16

Perhaps the most famous now is Salmonella Dub. As the name subtly suggests, they began as a bit of a punk band, before morphing into an instrumental live dub soundsystem. Then into what my mate calls "summer BBQ reggae", beginning with For the Love of It, on 1999's Killervision. Only to lose soundman and Love of It singer Tiki Taane in 2006.

The dubbies' Conspiracy Dub, from the Calming of the Drunken Monkey album (1997), remains one of my all-time favourites;

https://salmonelladub.bandcamp.com/track/conspiracy-dub

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Written by Strypey on 2025-01-17 at 11:25

Then there were soul-funk-rap-metal legends Supergroove, who got "world famous in NZ" off the back of relentless touring, and the tremendous debut album Traction. Compared to those unforgettable party anthems, the follow up, an EP called Tractor, was a much darker and more intense collection;

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqDQMZLeXOlnt4lTDimqy61J2vBn47f19

The 'groove came unstuck during an ill-fated overseas tour, losing singer Che Fu and their trumpet player, and released a disappointing final album before splitting.

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Written by Strypey on 2025-01-17 at 11:37

Another genre-fusing band who achieved chart success in Aotearoa was Headless Chickens. Whose 1994 hit single George could have been the template for Garbage's self-titled debut (1995).

The Chickens only released 3 studio albums, every one unique and eclectic. Take Body Blow (1991), most famous here for the poppy single Cruise Control. But it also contains Choppers, an aggressive, driving electro-industrial stomp, and the stream-of-consciousness storytelling of Gaskrankinstation.

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Written by Strypey on 2025-01-17 at 11:54

I could name many other examples. Jazz-funk festival mainstays Fat Freddy's Drop, who began as the dubby jam band of Live at the Matterhorn;

https://fatfreddysdrop.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-the-matterhorn

The naked funk-metal to cowboy ham rock (d)evolution of Head Like a Hole. Tall Dwarfs, whose every album was like a different band with the same singers.

Artpunk pranksters Wendyhouse, whose lo-fi sonic sculpture has writhed and transformed more than a T-1000 in molten steel, over decades of releasing tapes and CDs.

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Toot

Written by Strypey on 2025-01-17 at 12:40

But perhaps the most genre-blending of all were the grossly underrated and tragically short-lived Hallelujah Picassos. "Picasso Core" was a mix of punk, ska, reggae, dub, industrial, shoegazer and much more;

https://hallelujahpicassos.bandcamp.com/

But if I had to sum it up in one word I'd have to say punk. Because like Gogol Bordello and The Fenwicks, they raided the musical palettes of other genres. Like a bunch of boot boys left-handing bottles of juice at the supermarket, while paying for a banana.

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Descendants