With a new album on the way, satirical Auckland five-piece the Eversons visit Dunedin next week on the back of a couple of shredding lead singles.
The album, the band's second and due to be released later this year through Lil' Chief Records, is called Stuck in New Zealand, and first single Emily is a rollicking glam rock referential tribute to some New Zealand pop icons.
''Emily is a song about being in love with New Zealand music,'' frontman Mark Turner said.
''A tribute to Split Enz, Chris Knox, Phil Judd, Don McGlashan, Dave Dobbyn, all the greats. And even though they might ... [annoy] you ... sometimes, in the end you can't help but love them all.''
If you're a fan of ''fully sick'' '80s classics such as Bliss or Counting the Beat, this is for you.
The band will play at Chick's Hotel next Saturday, the same night as another '80s classic, Rod Stewart, is in town.
ONE-OFF SHOW
After an extended hiatus from making music, Australian alternative musician Matt Joe Gow returns to his boyhood home of Dunedin this week to play a one-off intimate show at the Dog with Two Tails.
As a solo artist and frontman for the Dead Leaves, Gow has been kicking around the music scene for several years, releasing his dustbowl Americana debut The Messenger in 2009, and then turning backing band the Dead Leaves into a fully fledged project for Cities on the Sea in 2012.
Cities on the Sea was a change in direction for Gow, shifting from more straightforward alt-country twang to layered, shimmering guitar pop songwriting like Interpol or the National, Gow's own baritone repurposed not too far from Matt Berninger's classic sound.
Now Gow appears to be working with both styles simultaneously, releasing a snippet of a new solo Skynyrd-ish rocker Georgia Rose online, and at present working on new Dead Leaves material.
He'll debut some of this new material at next week's show, as well as playing favourites from The Messenger.
NEW CATHRO EP
Former Dunedin pop songwriting luminary Paul Cathro released a new EP for ''shats and gaggles'' this week, and unsurprisingly, it's very good.
The songwriter behind psych-rock foursome Alizarin Lizard, and founding member of both Ha the Unclear and Fat Children, Cathro is a veritable fountain of great songs and the new Human Error is no different.
His hallmarks are all there: twisting guitar melodies (mainly acoustic here), rich, funny lyrics filled with references to excess, and hooks cribbed from the songbooks of the likes of Pulp and the Beatles.
The project was released in conjunction with local label Independent Records, and produced by fellow Fat Children member Louis Smith.
Cathro is working towards a full-length of similar material.
The gigs
• Radio One 91FM Presents: the Eversons (AKL) with special guests Saturday, April 11, at Chick's Hotel, Port Chalmers. Doors: 8.30pm. Chick's Magic Bus leaves Countdown at 8.30pm, university library at 8.35pm, and returns to town after the show. $10 entry, or $8 with a 2015 Onecard.
• Matt Joe Gow (the Dead Leaves) with special guest Jared Smith Friday, April 10, at Dog with Two Tails (Moray Pl). Doors: 7.30pmTickets $15 at door or available by pre-sale from venue.
• Paul Cathro's EP Human Error, download the album for ''pay as you like'' from paulcathro.bandcamp.com
