The Chills - The Lost EP (Album Review)

Review by Mor Fleisher-Leach

I was given a burnt CD of The Chills’ Kaleidoscope World four years ago—it was my first exposure to Flying

Nun and Kiwi pop in general. I was 21 years old and working a terrible job, my first right out of college. I was a retail store errand girl for the most part, going on daily trips to the grocery store to buy cleaning supplies in the San Fernando Valley. Luckily I had a car. And a CD player.

I don’t think Kaleidoscope World left that CD player for the next 10 months of employment. (I quit and went back to school…accumulating about $50,000 in debt. Not sure how that’s ever gonna get paid off. Thanks, unemployment in America.) I was instantly hooked on the weirder tracks. “Pink Frost” is a great one, and probably the most well-known, but “Dream by Dream” was the one I liked to put on repeat more than anything else. I liked that the world cared enough to say goodnight to The Chills. Plus, Martin Phillips’ voice is dreamy.

Fast forward a few years. July 2010. I was now out of grad school and pretty much fucked financially (reoccurring theme). What better time to leave the US. My husband and I packed it up, said goodbye to Los Angeles, and moved to Auckland, New Zealand on a one-year visa. The mission: buy as many Flying Nun records as possible. The Chills’ The Lost EP came first.

Instantly attracted to the track list and the price tag (NZ$40.00 beat the NZ$99.00 asking price for Boodle Boodle Boodle—everything in New Zealand’s expensive—which I ended up acquiring by association regardless), it was only fitting. The Lost EP is comprised of six “lost” tracks which the band recorded in 1984 and 1985. The songs are subdued, minimal and harmonic, with head honcho Martin Phillips’ driving vocals at the forefront. The musicianship is impeccable, and delivers a Chris Knox/Doug Hood styled wall of sound.

The album hits off with the wonderfully crafted “This is the Way,” a slower-tempo tune with a philosophical critique of the times. It picks up the pace with “Never Never Go,” a lovey-dovey pop song on which the next track “Don’t Even Know Her Name” bleeds into perfectly—false ending and all. The fun continues with “Bee Bah Bee Bah Bee Boe,” the chant of the century—gibberish.

The ultimate highlight is in the EP’s last two songs, “Whole Weird World” and “Dream by Dream.” We’re shifted back into slow-tempo ambient brutality with strange lyrics and even stranger instrumentation. It all end with a goodnight wish. Appropriate and a little bit eerie, which sums up The Lost EP all too well. Get your hands on this one.

The Clean - Boodle Boodle Boodle (Album Review)

Review by Ryan Leach

Although recorded quickly and on a miniscule budget,Boodle, Boodle, Boodle remains one of the great records of the early 1980s.

The album was recorded by The Clean and scene mavens Chris Knox and Doug Hood on Knox's Teac 4-track recorder; it would be Flying Nun's third release (and first EP). Bassist Robert Scott remembers the recording and mixing sessions well: "We just selected a group of songs we wanted to do and recorded them quickly. We were in a small, wooden hall—40 foot by 40 foot. The hall had a really nice and natural sound. We just set our equipment up like we were doing a gig. We recorded and mixed it all in two days (September 7 and 8, 1981)." (Leach, Razorcake #62)

Vocal duties on Boodle, Boodle, Boodle were handled democratically, with all members—guitarist David Kilgour, drummer Hamish Kilgour and Scott—singing lead on at least one track. As with all of The Clean's music, the tunes on Boodle are minimal; Hamish keeps a steady backbeat while Scott pounds out root eighth notes. The songs gain their strength through the group's incredible songwriting and David Kilgour's inventive guitar playing. These elements are taken to the extreme on "Point That Things Somewhere Else".

At 5:30, the song relentlessly employs Velvets' minimalism: David's guitar caroms out the speakers, coated with reverb and indebted to Lou Reed's playing ("What Goes On") throughout the instrumental break. Hamish's sing-speak vocals simply add to the droning effect of the song, sounding more like an instrument than a voice.

"Anything Could Happen" became a staple for The Clean. And for good reason. The track's lyrics are incredible—poetic yet ambiguous, leaving listeners the opportunity to construct their own interpretations: "Look for an answer in empty doorways/Talk to a dancer, said it's out on the highway".

Boodle, Boodle, Boodle sold in relatively large numbers, hitting number 4 in the New Zealand charts. It enabled Flying Nun to continue releasing records with much-needed capital. Boodle, Boodle, Boodle remains a highwater mark of New Zealand music.

Axemen - Big Cheap Motel (Album Review)

Review by Mor Fleisher-Leach

The Axemen are kinda like the Electric Eels with more brain power—one of the most underrated bands on Flying Nun Records. These guys put together art punk and politics like no other New Zealand act to date.

Big Cheap Motel—re-issued on American record label Siltbreeze in 2009—was first released on cassette in 1984 to protest Australian milk company Big M’s sexist advertizing campaign. The ads were featured at Christchurch’s Summertimes Festival which the Axemen played in January of that year. Each track, with titles such as “Stoopid Symbol of Womin-Hate!” and “Your Milk Comes from Cows”, is a Mark E. Smith-inspired attack on the corporation. “Sorry Mister Mayor/Can’t support your good-time fests./Not when they’re supported by exploiting women’s breasts” (lyrics, “Your Milk Comes from Cows”).

Fidelity wise, the recording quality is low. Lower than low. Song structures are minimal with each track standing out on its own and stating its objective. I’ve always liked the idea of Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, but didn't care for the execution. Reed should have done that record this way.

If you’re looking for something standard and classifiable, stay away from this. It’s like nothing else Flying Nun ever put out. But it’s rockin’, humorous and thoughtful. These Kiwi cats hit the nail on the head, brother.

Mr. Stix's Top Five

Top 5 Minutemen songs:
1. History Lesson Part 2
2. Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing
3. Joe McCarthy’s Ghost
4. This Ain’t No Picnic
5. Paranoid Time (Even sicker when seeing the Jason Jesse section with said song.)

Top 5 current record labels:
1. Jeetkune (They gave us knobs a chance.)
2. Burger Records (So much good stuff.)
3. Goner Records (Purely in terms of Eric being really nice and always answering my dumb messages even though I’m sure he’s got better stuff to do.)
4. In the Red (Cause they put out Black Time records and ipso facto we got to tour and I have many great memories.)
5. Kind Turkey (This could qualify as tape label, I think he’s putting out a 45 now, but again super nice enthusiastic kid.)

Top 5 skateboarders of all time:
1. Mark Gonzales
2. Eric Koston (Fucking dude rips everything.)
3. John Cardiel (Still so positive after all that shit.)
4. Matt Hensley (Grew up watching Shackle Me Not and Hocus Pocus.)
5. Lizard King (New one but he’s got rad tricks and style.)

Top 5 late '80s/early '90s hip-hop/rap albums:
1. ODB – “Return to the 36 Chamber”
2. Souls of Mischief – “No Man’s Land” (2nd album)
3. Onyx – “All We Got is Us” (2nd album)
4. Funkmaster Flex – “The Mix Tape Vol. 1” (Listened to this last week it rules fucking hard.)
5. Cliche but gotta be “Enter the 36 Chambers” Wu-Tang

Andrew Tolley's Top Five

Top 5 records of all time (for this week anyhow):
1. STOOGES - Funhouse
2. ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS – The Day the Earth Stood Still
3. REATARDS - Teenage Hate
4. JACKIE & THE STARLITES - Valerie
5. LINK WRAY - Swan Demos

Top 5 underrated New Zealand bands:
1. Voodoo Savage & the Savages
2. The Rainy Days
3. Michael J. Hex
4. The Aesthetics (Rags to Riches line-up)
5. Brother Love & his Second Hand Emotions / Homebacon Gang

Top 5 current record labels:
1. Yakisakana
2. Nasty Product
3. Goodbye Boozy
4. Stink Magnetic
5. Norton

This week's top 5 New Zealand albums:
1. MICHAEL J. HEX - Are You Hexperienced?
2. RAINY DAYS - SpongoMummaGummaBullyBeef + Microchips
3. ZOMBIE PROM QUEEN - Stone Cold & Grey
4. ED GAINS - Edweird
5. BROTHER LOVE & THE FREE ASSOCIATION - The Sin Aesthetic

The Clean

One of New Zealand's ultimate attractions for scumbags is the killer sounds of Flying Nun Records. The country is completely isolated which can be a blessing at times. Yes, Flying Nun's artists--in the label's formative years (early 1980s)--drew influence from their swampy counterparts in America and the UK, but they did it with a style and humor all their own.

This photograph of David Kilgour, lead singer and guitarist of The Clean, was taken during a March 6th, 2011 performance at Auckland's Kings Arms music venue. The Clean is the band that kept Flying Nun in business early on and, I'd like to think, gives warm fuzzies to whomever is willing to give them a listen.