Stream Wizz Kids' New EP 'Attention'

Hamiltonian purveyors of stateside-styled punk rock Wizz Kids have dropped a new EP. Aptly titled Attention, the five tracks are a jolt-start of three chorded party hard pick-me-up which have had more then a few spins in the UTR camp since its release last night. To get the lowdown on the new release, we caught up with the band to yarn about the EP's prompt production process, the Wipers and some Hamilton history...

Stream the EP below then keep scrolling to read the interview...

UTR: For the uninitiated, who are Wizz Kids and what’s your buzz?

Ben: Alex, Kader, Sam, Ben.

Kader: We are a punk band from Hamilton. We seem to get described in a lot of different ways so I guess the buzz depends on the night.

Hook us up with some details about the EP. Who recorded it, where at, where can we get it and are there other merch goodies accompanying it?

Alex: www.wizz-kids.bandcamp.com for $3.00 or pick up a cassette tape from ZERO STYLE.

Chumz: We recorded it with help from Bevan who runs his own studio in the countryside, in Te Pahu, about 30 minutes drive west of Hamilton. The place is called Bagnall Hill and is fairly simple - a nice old farm building with a bunch of Ekadek pre-amps, a bunch of instruments to use, amps, and gear to be able to record to tape or digital. We did the whole thing in an afternoon there last Monday and then mixed it at my place.

Kader: The EP is up now. The band is a conduit for merchandise. You can order three different T-shirts from the Bandcamp page too.

You guys always seem to have dope visual art accompanying your tunes and adorning your T shirts and I chalk that up to a couple of you being visual artists yourselves. To those of you who are, who are some artists (contemporary and less so) that you dig?

Alex: Unsanitary Napkin (Wellington) & Spiteful Urinator (Hamilton) have amazing artwork alongside their music.

Ben: Alex is responsible for the illustration work for the Wizz Kids related stuff, I usually will do the logo art and Screen Printing etc is always a collective effort and activity. 80's skateboarding imagery, old rock n roll and punk rock album and poster art is good. Randy Biscuit, Pettibon, Crumb, Winston Smith, Gee Vaucher etc, are some older favorites but the list could be endless with older and contemporary drawers/painters.

Kader: Definitely Hannah(Daily Secretion) of Unsanitary Napkin.

You guys featured tape compilation Wiped Out: A tribute to the Wipers last year. Your logo also seems to take a cheeky nod from theirs. Is this a collective influence or is it just one or two of you who’s the super fan? What’s your favourite album/track?

Ben: I figured out the Wipers logo would work when drawing early logos for our first EP. It worked for a while. I could say we are all big fans of all the Wipers stuff. Early albums as well as later albums. 'Born with a curse' is a good song and anything off the 'Alien Boy EP'.

Chumz: Image Of Man

Kader: Most of it. Anything off the first three albums. Without thinking too much, Window Shop for Love is a good song.

A couple of you were involved with well-loved DIY space Thrash Palace. Do you look back fondly on that or is it one of those sleeping dogs that are best to left lie, kind of deals?

Alex: Thrash Palace was deplorable and a huge success. The loudest most notable gig for myself would have been Drug Problem (NZ) and Lebenden Toten from Portland, USA.

Chumz: The/Trash/Thrash Palace, I could go on about this place for a while, but I'll just say that it hosted some of the best and worst moments of my life. It was a real good time.

Kader: Even though it felt like it sometimes I didn't actually have to live there, so I'm an unrepentant nostalgic. But real estate hagiography is probably a bad habit.

Speaking of Hamilton (and maybe the framing of this question is bizarre, but) did you see the internet's re-appropriating of the entry steps to (now defunct punk and hardcore venue) Void? Where it happily removed the ‘no alcohol’ and ‘no drugs’ messages?

Chumz: Yeah. Crazy the amount of attention it received within a few days. I posted up an original photo of mine (not the one that ended up getting shopped) on my instagram after it went big, for reference and because it bought back memories.

Do you think straight edge is as prominent and relevant in hardcore as it used to be?

Kader: Couldn't induce anyone else to answer this question apparently. Nah, it's not as prominent or relevant as it was. Moderation is still a virtue though.

Your going on a tour across the pond very soon. What’s the score with that? Where are you playing and with who?

Chumz: Yeah! It's great, we have a lot of punk/hardcore friends in Australia so it seemed it was time to go visit again. We're playing a couple of shows in Melbourne to start out, then driving our way east/north to Wollongong, Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane, then we come back to Melbourne for one more show before heading back to New Zealand. We're playing with so many sweeet bands: Removalist, Outright, Enzyme (new band with members of Kromosom), Diploid, Death Church, our friend Carlos' new band Sistema En Decadencia, No Class, and more!

I’ve heard a few questions about a Wasteland reunion. Would this ever be a possibility?

Chumz: Nope :)

Kader: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ … ;) ;)


Wizz Kids are playing at Whammy Backroom this Saturday night with fellow Hamiltonian's Contenders and Auckland locals Long Distance Runner and Sick Old Man