Music News

Weekly Round Up: Friday 18th May

Friday 18th May, 2018 10:08PM

NZ Music Month steamrolled forward this week, with more releases and exciting tour announcements than you can shake a stick at. Shows to get hyped for include the imminent return of UK post-grunge / dream-pop artists Wolf Alice, who are playing their first New Zealand headline show in September, Nadia Reid's forthcoming thirteen date national tour before heading back to the studio, Boycrush's upcoming mini tour in celebration of new album Desperate Late Night Energy, and Cash Guitar's (Chris Heazlewood of King Loser) upcoming tour of Aotearoa. Celebrated Auckland Americana artists The Miltones are hitting the road in June, and sonic travellers Fis & Rob Thorne are playing their very first joint New Zealand show that month in Wellington. Lovers of classic pop-metal anthems will be pumped that Skid Row are heading our way in October, with former Dragonforce singer ZP Theart subbing in for original singer Sebastian Bach.

We were thrilled to premiere a trio of solid releases this week - Michael James Keane (of Wellington "canyon rock" group So Laid Back Country China) shared the melancholic lead single from his solo album The Cascade, London-based songsmith J. Flyger (singer and guitarist of Auckland's Popstrangers) unveiled a single from his debut collection Luck, and Auckland rock duo Skinny Hobos busted out a mind-bending video from their new self-titled album, ahead of their national tour which kicks off tonight. Our over-caffeinated reporter on the prowl Fluffy struck gold this week, conducting an insightful conversation with NYC post-punks Parquet Courts, whose energetic latest album Wide Awake! dropped today.

More local highlights in a big week for releases include the hugely anticipated self-titled debut solo album from Auckland noiseniks Wax Chattels, singer / producer Villette's jaw-dropping 360 VR video for her latest single 'Money', the first single in six years from super fun Auckland dance-pop duo Spring Break, a collaborative mixtape from current tour mates Being., Ha The Unclear and Soaked Oats, an insane tune (with accompanying painting) from Dunedin's Sheep, a powerful single from Tauranga guitar maniacs Threat.Meet.Protocol's upcoming Where Did You Put My Marbles EP, a motorik song from Lawrence Arabia featuring Heather Mansfield (The Brunettes) and Liam Finn, and a spooky video from Dunedin songwriter extraordinaire Kane Strang.

This week's Caught Live clip features Taite Prize-nominated Wellington trio Mermaidens, who are playing a co-headline show at San Fran in June alongside Sydney post-punks Mere Women. Check out recent live footage of the band in action playing 'Cold Skin' from their 2016 album Undergrowth in the RNZ studios...