It’s New Zealand music month at the moment so I’m sure you’ll all be racing down to the library to get your hands on some Kiwi music to listen to. I’m here to help. New Zealand produces a lot more than just the Fat Freddys and the Brooke Frasers that get played to death on the radio, so here are some alternatives. I’ve also tried to keep these relatively newish.
- Mint Chicks – Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!
A heavily punctuated title from one of my favorites. This is pop-punk at its very best, it’s all catchy hooks and sweet danceable guitars. Also keep your eyes out for their always entertaining videos. - Disasteradio – Visions
With its keyboards and synths approach Visions sounds like your big brothers old video games having a dance party with some crazy 80s cartoon from Japan. So, awesome then. - The Checks – Hunting Whales
They do that early 70s rock thing that’s pleasingly in vogue right now. They’ve been over in the UK honing their craft and this is their little gem of a debut album. Put on some skinny jeans and rock out! - Cut Off Your Hands – Blue on Blue
A charming-sounding 80s indie pop throwback. Cut Off Your Hands are danceable post-punk revivalists from the fertile North Shore scene up in Auckland and this is a great starting point. - Liam Finn – I’ll be Lightning
He crafts wonderful pop songs, plays all the instruments, has performed on Letterman and has the kind of beard that any man should one day aspire to. Yup, he’s pretty good and so is this album. In fact one could make a case that this is the best record ever made by somebody with the last name Finn, gasp!
These can all be found in the YA section, but you don’t have to stop there. The Adults collection contains some amazing treasures and can be snapped up for the tiny fee of $1! Why not try out some of these bands; The Clean, The Veils, White Birds and Lemons, The Sneaks, The Verlaines, Toy Love and all the countless others?
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