DIMMER ‘AND SPECIAL GUESTS’
(FEATURING THE MUSIC OF DIMMER AND STRAITJACKET FITS)
The Shayne Carter driven band, Dimmer will reform especially for a one off show to farewell the Kings Arms Tavern on February 9th in Auckland.
The night will also feature the closest thing to a reformation of the Straitjacket Fits possible in 2017, when Carter will be joined by Fits drummer John Collie and guitarist Mark Petersen for a set of that band’s songs. Original bass player David Wood passed away in 2010. The bass playing duties on the Straitjacket Fits material will be shared between Dimmer members, Vaughan Williams and James Duncan.
“All things considered we were kind off loath to use the name Straitjacket Fits, so we’ve settled for “and Special guests” in inverted commas instead.” said Carter, throwing in a secret wink for added effect.
“It’ll still be a lot of fun revisiting those songs with the old crew. ”
Straitjacket Fits last played together on a reformation tour in 2006.
Straitjacket Fits have long been regarded as one of New Zealand’s greatest bands, a standing they sealed through their heyday in the late 80s and early nineties where, as part of the second wave of Flying Nun bands, they earned a ferocious international reputation for their live shows and the three albums they released through Flying Nun, Rough Trade and Arista records.
With releases like Life In One Chord, Hail, Melt and Blow, the band produced an original mix of rock dissonance and melody that predated the shoe gazer movement and the angular, exploratory rock of bands such as Radiohead and others that followed in their wake.
The band split up in 1994 after a string of triumphant shows around Australasia with the Big Day Out. .
Two years later Carter announced the arrival of his new project Dimmer with the release of the pyrotechnic instrumental “Crystalator “ through Sub Pop.
Carter then withdrew into the shadows for five years before re emerging with the surprise soul noir and rock minimalism of the first Dimmer album “I Believe You A Star”, which is now recognised as a New Zealand classic.
Dimmer released three more albums over the next several years, “You’ve Got To Hear The Music”, “Here My Dear” and the rockier “Degrees Of Existence” before Carter pulled the plug on the band in 2012.
February’s Kings Arm show will feature the final Dimmer line up of Carter, Vaughan Williams (bass), James Duncan (guitar), and Gary Sullivan (drums) and will cover material right across the Dimmer spectrum.
The set with Collie and Petersen will feature material from all three Straitjacket Fits albums.
Dimmer “And Special Guests” at the Kings Arms. One show only. Friday February 9th. Tickets at Under The Radar.
https://www.audioculture.co.nz/people/shayne-carter
https://www.audioculture.co.nz/people/straitjacket-fits
