Album Review: Street Chant - Means

New Zealand's musical history has become so, you know, 'cool' lately. There's all sorts of bands springing up all over the globe borrowing the best of what's been aired to meet the largely American blog-driven resurgent lo-fi / skuzz / dream pop market. From the mid-1980s Car Crash Set and Dead C to eponymous Kiwi bands like the Chills and the Clean, chillwave and lo-fi groups are footnoting and referencing as they go about their daily doings, happy to liberally help themselves to our collective aural heritage. Generally the world's all the more richer for it, but with the rate that new groups are popping up these days not all of them deliver a satisfying crunch. Yes, there are those that build on the victories of the musicians that have gone before them, using back catalogs for referential homage with a whole new twist. But there are also those who are plain and simply plagiarizing, ripping off masterpieces from decades past to meet the fashionable demands of the 'scene'.

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Means is out now and if you're in Auckland or Wellington this weekend, you can help the band celebrate at the following shows:

Friday 27th August - Wellington - 13 Garrett Street w/ Brains, Teen Hygine and Food Fighter
Saturday 28th August - Auckland - Margaritas w/ Crude + Stefan Neville, The Transistors and Fat Angry Man (Tickets for this show on sale now from HERE at UTR with special ticket + vinyl packages and CD add-ons for cheap!).