Label Me is an education. A schoolin’. A lesson on the most interesting indie Record Labels of current and bygone days. Imagine you’re sitting across from Ricky in a dark, smoky bar booth. He’s had a few too many to drink and there’s no stopping him now, dammit.

Words by Rick Moslen

Over one hundred and fifty people died in the recent New Zealand earthquake. I know the death toll doesn’t compare to the terrible shit happening in Japan, but it still brutally affected a country not only beautiful, but rich in both history and culture. Yes, donating some money is obviously encouraged, but in my warped mind, gushing about the country’s past influential music scene can also help (I haven’t quite figured out how yet). If your initial thought is, “New Zealand music scene? You must be talking about those Flight of the Conchords guys,” well…no. Three words: Flying-Nun-Records. It’s a label filled with dozens of folks who accomplished the near impossible: they continuously wrote perfect pop songs.

New Zealand boasts a solid history of rock music. The 1960’s garage rock movement was apparently a pretty big deal over there, but by the late 70’s and early 80’s, some post-punk bands (The Enemy, Bored Games, Shoes this High, Blam, Blam, Blam, among others) started getting heavy on the scene. The problem was that most of these bands had a) no affordable outlet to release material and b) no all-ages venues to play their music. These setbacks forced music fans to take matters into their own hands. Propeller Records was born in the northern town of Aukland in 1980, but only lasted a few years—so no help there. Cue Roger Shepard!
Mr. Shepard started Flying Nun in 1981 with hopes to document the local Christchurch scene. Bands and Shepard didn’t sign contacts—they just shook hands (that’s trust, folks). Things soon expanded to Dunedin with the release that caught everyone’s ears: “Tally Ho!” by this little band called The Clean. The song vomited all over the New Zealand music charts, and it remains (in my opinion) one of the greatest pop singles ever written—definitely check it out for yourself.
A blessing in disguise for many of these guys was the isolation factor. That whole oceanic division-thing allowed bands freedom to nurture their own sound without too much influence from the Yankees or Brits overseas…for a while at least. In the mid-90’s, North Carolina-based (and Grammy-award winning) Merge Records released some Flying Nun albums in America, as did Matador and Homestead Records. Since then, hundreds of American indie rock bands have jumped on the New Zealand band wagon (no pun) and cited Flying Nun groups as influences. If you’ve ever wondered where a band like Pavement (Flying Nun actually released their albums in New Zealand) got their sound, look no further.

Throughout the 80’s and 90’s the label released loads of really fantastic groups like the 3Ds, Headless Chickens, The Verlaines, The Stones, Bailter Space, Straightjacket Fits, The Rip, Goblin Mix, Chug (perhaps you remember their tremelo-tastic “Flowers” from The Adventures of Pete & Pete?), The Gordons, and many more; all bands who helped establish Flying Nun as the most successful independent label in New Zealand (pure fact—not my opinion, guys). In 2006, big brother…err…Warner Music Group bought Flying Nun. Don’t worry—the story doesn’t end on a sad note. In 2009, Roger Shepard regained control of the label (with contracts now!), thus starting (hopefully) a new up-and-coming Flying Nun era.

So yeah, these bands are kind of a big deal to me. After hundreds of listens, so many of these songs are still so meaningful and continue to remind me how much I love music—isn’t that what music’s supposed to do? I wish the job market in New Zealand was stable, because I’m crazy and would love nothing more than to be closer to this music’s history—I’d feel like that dad fish who found Nemo.

Here are the bands—along with a few recommended albums (some of the dates are weird, because the albums are compilations—just warning you). Enjoy:

The Clean
Albums: Modern Rock (1995), Anthology (2003)

The Clean’s songs boasted really infectious bass lines, the occasional lovable organ part, mysterious lyrics, but the band also wasn’t afraid to take crazy risks. They were one of New Zealand’s first bands to play all-original material and are often considered THE essential Flying Nun band, so even if someone wanted to talk shit on The Clean, he/she would just sound like an idiot. The band’s still kicking it—releasing albums (2009’s Mister Pop was great) and playing incredible shows (I was honored to catch a gig last summer).

The Clean / Getting Older

The Bats
Albums: Daddy’s Highway (1987), Silverbeet (1993)

So remember seven seconds ago when I mentioned The Clean’s awesome bass parts? Well their bassist formed The Bats (New Zealand loved their supergroups). Like The Clean, they’re essential Kiwi Rock! Seriously—whether you dig jangle pop or you prefer drearier songs to get you through the day, seek out all seven albums (if you haven’t already)—you won’t be pissed at me for saying so.

The Bats / Round And Down

The Chills
Albums: Kaleidoscope World (1986), Brave Words (1987), Submarine Bells (1990)

At times The Chills sounded like the greatest band on earth—hell, they probably were! So why weren’t they more popular outside their own country!? They even escaped secluded New Zealand for England to get some bushy London eyebrows raised—but that accomplished nothing. Perhaps singer/songwriter Martin Phillips’ refusal to sustain a steady lineup (there were over thirty members through the years) prevented The Chills’ picture-perfect pop songs from going down as the second coming of the ole’ Beatles…but I’ll still argue that they were (musically) pretty close. Seriously—find me another band that can write a song as haunting as “Pink Frost” or as catchy as “I Love My Leather Jacket.”

The Chills / Pink Frost

Able Tasmans
Albums: Hey Spinner! (1990), Somebody Ate My Planet (1992)

The Able Tasmans’ chamber pop pre-dated the Belle & Sebastians of the 90’s. At times theatrical, at other times more rock n’ roll, they had a constantly rotating lineup (shit, could any New Zealand band just keep the same band members?!). Hey Spinner! is pretty fab, and even though some of Somebody Ate My Planet’s lyrics are a bit too environmentally conscious (comparable to R.E.M.’s cheesy songs about polluted rivers…OK maybe just that one song), it may be their best.

Able Tasmans / Hold Me I

Snapper
Albums: Shotgun Blossom (1991), Snapper EP (1992)

The first time I heard Snapper’s Stereolab-sounding repetitive jolts of distorted organ and krautrock drumbeats, I may have pee’d myself with excitement (just a little). Peter Gutteridge, past-member of both The Clean and The Chills (I wonder if these guys could ever keep a steady job?), led Snapper, but they failed to gain a really strong following—but like a lot of bands, their lack of popularity had nothing to do with making sweet music.

Snapper / Pop Your Top

Tall Dwarfs
Albums: Canned Music EP (1983), 3 EP’s (1994),

Tall Dwarfs introduced me to Kiwi Rock with their acoustic bedroom recordings. Music nerds throw the term “lo-fi”
around to describe bands…well these guys’ songs are the definition of lo-fi. Chris Knox, responsible for Tall Dwarfs, The Enemy, Toy Love, and a nifty solo discography (I highly recommend the album Meat), suffered a debilitating stroke two years ago. Hopeful to return, he already has quite the boastful career though, which includes producing many of the albums I’ve already listed. Knox shares band credit with Alec Bathgate. Two incredible songwriters combined can create some unbelievable music…just like when Santana and Rob Thomas made that one song, right?

Tall Dwarfs / What Goes Up

The Terminals
Albums: Disconnect EP (1988), Uncoffined (1990)

Falling from the same tree as many of the other bands mentioned, The Terminals’ near-perfect Uncoffined beats the crap out of any other music you’re currently listening to. Its catchiness slides into your ears and burrows itself inside your brain like some brain parasite from the X-Files. You can tell from the recording quality that they barely had any money, but who seriously cares? I’ll admit their later (non-Flying Nun) material is nothing to brag about though.

The Terminals / Cockroaches

Sneaky Feelings
Albums: Send You (1992)

The punk movement influenced most Flying Nun bands, but Sneaky Feelings drew from pop and 1960’s soul. They were the odd men out. To add, apparently both Roger Shepard and Chris Knox didn’t care much for their music, so even though pop music buffs delighted in their melody-tainted tunes, the band felt the label never gave them the attention deserved. Their lead singer, obviously pretty bummed, wrote a memoir chronicling the band’s difficulties, but it’s one of those out-of-print books on Amazon selling for hundreds of dollars…so I guess I won’t be learning more about Sneaky Feelings anytime soon…

Sneaky Feelings / Someone Else’s Eyes

Dead C
Albums: Eusa Kills (1987), DR503 (1988)

The Dead C’s spacey noise probably received disapproval from many New Zealand mothers for over twenty-five years—but in a rock n’ roll sort of way. With over twenty releases and only a handful of shows outside their home country, these guys do shit their own way. Noisy soundscapes form guitar hooks that rise above the ruckus to create some stellar songs (with a few quieter moments here and there)—especially with their two Flying Nun albums before they moved on to Slitbreeze.

Dead C / Speed Kills

Die! Die! Die!
Albums: Form (2010)

(Hopefully) leading a new movement of Flying Nun talent, these guys (with the super uplifting band name) are pretty damn good. Glam vocals overtop murky punk guitars and pounding drums recall the bands Huggy Bear or old-school (And You Will Know Us By The) Trail of Dead. Sure they may not match the legendary status of other bands mentioned, but their songs rock really hard, so check’em out.

Die! Die! Die! / Howye

Filed under: Label Me, Not Blake, Jim, or Brendan