Underadio's Debut

A series of mouse dilemmas, 4.30am alarms, hey it's the sun. These are a few things which I wish would excuse me from being a little more active on the posting front. Underdead has, however, found itself a new segment and a new medium on which to bring you great new music - a timeslot on bfm somewhere in the midst of the graveyard shift on monday mornings.

The debut, like this week's show, was themed around Video Games. Despite a few learning curves (nervous slurs of words, Kermath's inability to sign out of skype while playing songs and a song order slip) it turned out rather listenable: download the 21-and-a-half minute long mp3 file here.

Songs featured are as follows:

Disasteradio - Computer Whiz

Grooms - Wicked Game

Shipwreck - You're Overreacting

Dignan Porch - On A Ride

The Broken West - Perfect Games

You can tune in to the show from 1-4am on a sunday night/monday morning by tuning your Auckland radio to 95fm or streaming live anywhere in the world on 95bfm.com!

I think it's pretty cool, let me know what you think.

Because I For One Love The Lineup

Each new ambitious youthful summer plan leads to more intensive counting down of the days, and today's announcement for the Laneway lineup confirmed what I had hoped: it's going to be good enough to redeem my poor effort from last year (in the ambulance by Cut Off Your Hands' set). This time I will see all of the bands. Coming shortly will be a detailed guide/opinion to how you should spend your summer, complete with money-saving tips.

Foals - Tron

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P.S. Bring on Tron 2 yo.

Click on the title of this post if you've not yet heard the Laneway lineup.

"Someone hype us up on a blog"

Hype hype hype hype hype hype hype hype hype.

But fortunately for us, the hype is deserved.

Nearly a year since their well-acclaimed first EP (still free here if you haven't downloaded it yet), Nevernudes are now counting down the days until their long player is officially ready to fly into your hands. The four charming Auckland boys are a staple to the underground scene, playing many a show in St. Barnabas Scout Hall as well as bars and house parties both local and nationwide, and this dedication to their music has earned them a lot of fans and a great reputation which is in no way undeserved. As each new song has been trialled and added to setlists, my opinion of them has grown from a band you like because the general opinion is pretty good, to a band you genuinely expect to do great things. Anthony Sheehan-Drent's lovable songwriting combines influences from favourite bands such as Fugazi, Queens of the Stone Age, East Brunswick All Girls Choir and local Flying Nun/Mole Music/Muzai bands, while the all-around great musicianship and brotherhood of Tom Nicholls (drums), Sam Harper (guitar) and Chris Smart (bass) give Nevernudes the reputation of a kick-ass, musically tight group of bros who promise much fun to be had if they're not being kicked out of the venue for bringing in their own Scrumpy. Hopefully this continues to reflect in the new tracks, the first of which will be released as a single sometime next week.

Nevernudes - White Teethed Teens (Rough Mix)

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If you're in Auckland, make sure to check out the album release party October 30th at Galatos, full Halloween attire expected. More information on the facebook event page.

Hello Newborn Shoots Of Grass

Now that I have a newfound faith in Spring to really turn days warmer, I have found that even the most wintery of anthems are full of this optimism for sunny days. This cutesy chanson by My First Tooth titled "Sleet and Snow" summarizes this idea with the contrast between the lyric adopted in the blog's title above, and its name, clearly a hangover from seasons past. The catchy rhythm guitar line which used to shelter me from raindrops has morphed into the new shape of bonfire singalongs, the major-to-minor chord progression which previously defined sadness takes one step further, when placed in direct sunlight, to resolve and end on a note of joyous occasion. And through this, a harmonica breakdown decides to pop in and encourage your feet to dance a silly jig. It's magical. One day you're celebrating the sun, the next you're wondering where the rain reappeared from.

Still we sing, sing through the storm - if you're sleet, I'm snow.

My First Tooth - Sleet And Snow

(Please open the song's link in a new page and click download)

Crossing Roads

Underplayedlist #2

The weather is changing,

We've lost an hour,

My essay is awful,

I need to sleep.

We could all go for a wall of new music right now.

Here's your link, bitchez.

Click on the cover to see the back cover with track listings but warning, I got bored halfway through and it's difficult to read.

Sneaky Sneaky Dogfriend

2007 was a great year for New Zealand music, hell, music in general. Everyone's favourite 'schizo-poppers The Mint Chicks proved that credibilty and VNZMA success weren't mutually exclusive, Radiohead fucked record companies with their 'In Rainbows' release and Klaxons got wasted after the Mercury Prize ceremony with Alex Kapranos and spent a lot good chunk of their £20000 prize on booze. Inamongst all the fantastic releases both at home and overseas, however, a great album got lost and seemingly ignored.

That album is, of course, The Sneaks' self-titled debut.


To be honest, after 'Pep Sounds', I lost track of The Sneaks somewhat. Surely their 15 minutes of fame had passed after betting their NZOA funding money on a horse? (which subsequently won, the result of which is the 'I'm Lame' video, worth a look for the last 50 seconds of pyrotechnics alone). How surprised was I, then, to discover in the Real Groovy sale bin, a copy of an album neither I nor the general public, apparently, knew existed.

I haven't seen it anywhere since, but if you manage to spot it (maybe Auckland Real Groovy might be a good starting point), it's definitely worth picking up. Even though the album is 14 tracks long, it barely breaks 30 minutes and most of the songs are wonderful poppy nuggets that deserve to be not just discovered but celebrated. 'I'm Lame' is that rare beast, a song that's both catchy and also about awkward sex ('If you can't give someone a blowjob properly, come on brothers, let's go out and do it for ourselves' never fails to raise a smile), 'Bus Bitch' and 'No Sex!' breeze past in a fury of synth feedback, and 'El Scaredy Cat' fuses a wonderful bassline with all the jangle and off-kilter vocals the band have seemily perfected. Oh, and it's also the 7 Days
theme song OH MAN THEY SOLD OUT TO TV3-whatever.
If I had to single out one moment on the album, though, it'd be 'Scenester'. Arrogant hipsterism ('The fella in the mirror looks good ... can I be more like him?') collides with James Dansey's yelps and a synth line unlike anything else on the disc. It really is an absolutely excellent song, the highpoint on an already-fantastic album.

Anyway, I bet you feel bad about ignoring this wonderful band forever slash since you last heard 'I'm Lame' in 2006. If so, then get out there, buy the album and devour it. For those who're thinking "hell I love the Sneaks and I listen to this record every day" then good news is coming your way too! The band have returned to NZ, and are releasing new EP in November called 'Today!'. Rumour is they're going to play a nationwide tour in November too, so get along and get dancing. (thanks cheeseontoast for the news, you're good bros)
Here's some Sneaks. First up is Cocaine Mouth off their new EP. Here's a link to bandcamp where you can grab the song free of charge wooohoooo! Thanks interwebz.

The Sneaks - Cocaine Mouth (Bandcamp)

Next up, the song I was hyping above, Scenester. Get into it.
The Sneaks - Scenester (Download)

Keep living life, kids.


(oh and if you are slash represent the Sneaks and don't like that mp3 sitting there, let me know. love you xoxo)

Chrome and Convenient Transportation

I've been sitting on this track for a while, throwing it into recommendations every now and then, not wanting to publish something which gives the impression of being homesick (again) or let you in on a badly kept secret, but despite being blogged about by I Guess I'm Floating and having released 7 EPs, Chromatic Flights could be making more airwaves.

I am a great sucker for badly-exposed, intentionally sun-ruined basic film photography, and the use of this technique on top of beachy landscapes and hot babez is a great reflection of the breezy beats escaping from Kyle's brain.

You can get some old EPs from Monotonik but for now, listen to a sweet sweet heartwarming anthem while you dodge the sunshowers.

Chromatic Flights - Home Is More

I Just Want To Change Your Mind

I'll be severely disappointed if you have not yet let this EP carry your abstract conciousness into a continent where waves are made of clouds and situation comedies are watching branches break off from trees.

While the opening track brings worry that this EP can serve no purpose aside from lying in bed feeling experimental, it quickly arrives at hiding-behind-the-curtain pop music, releasing endorphins of a craving to sing along.
The EP flows smoothly, each track exploring a new field while tracking its path with breadcrumbs. You're hit with memories, but of what? Summer? Adolescence? The credited Richard P. Alexander's solo set at Campus A Low Hum on the morning of day 1? Something that's of yet undiscovered as a token good-sound metaphor? And with each repeat the nostalgia begins to paradoxically become a memory of itself.
They're only two guys from Wellington, but they can evoke some damn good feelings from their tunes.

Free download --> Glass Vaults - Glass EP