Indie party-poppers the Leers are making their first visit to the South Island next week, in support of their long-awaited debut album Are You Curious?
The band, who hail from the lush surrounds of Mount Maunganui, first started making music together back in 2010, when the four childhood friends Matt Bidois (vocals), Jacob Buchan (bass), James Kippenberger (guitar) and Jack Furniss (drums) made the move to Auckland to pursue their collective dream of becoming musicians.
With an infectious combination of slippery pop hooks that'd sound perfect seaside, taut instrumentation drawing from British indies Foals and later-period Arctic Monkeys, you can put The Leers alongside bands like The Checks at the top of NZ's shiny, larger-than-life pop heap, still pretty alternative yet primed for mainstream crossover radio success.
The album follows two EPs, the self-titled The Leers (2011) and Pockets (2013).
Locals Hermann Doose, who put out the coastal skate EP Hawaii Was Beautiful late last year, will perform in support.
PUNK 'SOULMATES' TOUR
Sydney two-piece Hannahband is visiting the country from Australia next week, on a national tour with "soulmates'' and partners in emotional punk, Auckland's Carb on Carb.
The tour will double as the release from Hannahband's third album quitting will improve your health, a loose concept record about breaking down the stigmas attached to mental health issues.
The pair make primal post-pop, both very sad and very loud, utilising a low-pitched baritone guitar to add weight to their shout-y angst and nihilism.
It'll be Carb on Carb's first show back in Dunedin in over a year, and their first since touring the US and supporting emo legends the Hotelier in Australia.
STRANGE HARVEST EP
In recent release news, Dunedin darkwavers and Suitable Alternative favs Strange Harvest and Embedded Figures have just co-released a ghostly new EP titled SPLIT / SINGLE.
Strange Harvest is the artistic pairing of Skye Strange and the robot Grimm Selfie, aka the man formally known as Justin Walshaw, while Embedded Figures is the name for Skye's solo output - "She's the musical one, I generally run the board meetings,'' Walshaw says.
The new EP contains a fresh single from each outlet alongside some remixes from their "spiritual warriors'' Instant Fantasy - the solo moniker of Christchurch artist Gemma Syme, fellow synthy Dunedinites Death and the Maiden, and MIDI composer Kilo.
The Last Supper from Strange Harvest sounds on first listen uncannily like a slowed-down and blown-out melodic rework of Eurythmics eighties classic Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), a deft mix of electronic thrills and new waver chills, while Paradise Lost, from Embedded Figures, is a nervy diatribe driven forward by video game claps and a striking sense of anxiety.
Listen to SPLIT / SINGLE now at strangeharvest.bandcamp.com.
The gigs
• The Leers Are You Curious? debut album release tour, with Hermann Doose, Saturday, March 12 at the Crown Hotel. Presale tickets available on undertheradar.co.nz.
• Hannahband with Carb on Carb (AK) and Opposite Sex, Wednesday, March 9 at the Crown Hotel. $10 at the door from 9pm.
