Snapper--Death and Weirdness--Another Old Gem From Flying Nun

Some people come to New Zealand to see the Shire, Bilbo Baggins, to search for the missing Tom Bombadil, but in my mind I keep coming back to New Zealand for the excellent music.

Here's an old Ep by Peter Gutteridge's band Snapper, eponymously titled,recorded back in 1988. He formerly was a member of The Great Unwashed and The Clean with the Kilgour boys, and then branched out to make his own unique brand of noisy driving electronic drone pop. Some say they are influential, and I think that if they aren't, they ought to be. A very cool sounding band, with noise powering over a driving unrelenting beat.

Only four songs here, only 15 minutes long. Peter sings, and is on guitar and keyboards. Christine Voice also sings and plays keys and guitar. Dominic Stones is also on guitar and vocals with Alan Haig on Drums. Buddy, the lead song is one of the highlights, with a big steady beat and distorted keyboard, like a noisier version of the Velvets' What Goes On. Cause Of You contains the same driving beat but with woozy organ swirls. Death and Weirdness In The Surfing Zone is another classic tune with chanting dual vocals and discordant keyboard riffs. The final song Hang On, moves along in the same mesmerizing repetitive path. It's great to hear electronic influenced music with a human feeling to it. So many groups tried to use that motif of man vs machine, of technology turning us into robots. This particular recording is definitely carbon based and full of verve. This Ep is a very interesting and unique sounding album that I recommend highly.