Music News

Weekly Roundup: Friday 19th July

Friday 19th July, 2019 4:52PM

It's been a crisp yet whirlwind week full of killer releases and thrilling surprises, some of which we're struggling not to spill the beans about just yet. Announcement highlights for the week include Melbourne post-punks Bench Press are bringing their wirey energy our way for two North Island shows in August, Irish indie-pop mega-stars Walking On Cars are touring songs from their hit-packed latest album Colours this November, Palmerston North noise-rockers First Move are playing across NZ in August (including a Wellington event supporting Bench Press), 2019 Silver Scroll shortlisted guitar-poppers Ha The Unclear revealed the supports for their forthcoming Embrace The Glace tour of NZ, and a diverse lineup of experimental sound-makers was announced for the inaugural Outlier Festival, happening at Tāmaki Makaurau's Audio Foundation over three days in August.

More crucial tour announcements include 80s pop icons a-ha and Rick Astley will play two Aotearoa mega-events in early 2020, supported in Auckland by our very own The Beths (!), US jazz visionary Kamasi Washington is returning this spring for a special Auckland headline event, Perth alt-pop crew Methyl Ethel are hitting NZ in August for a pair of Laneway-curated headline shows, and none other than David Kilgour (co-helmsman of NZ indie heroes The Clean and The Great Unwashed) is returning home for a nationwide tour this spring, in celebration of the release of his upcoming studio album Bobbie’s A Girl.

We were proud to premiere a pair of catchy local bangers this week. Head over here to view an eye-popping workout video for the hyper-energetic new tune from Alaska by way of NZ party-punk Skux, and zoom here to wrap your ears around the very first release from Priya, the freshly dubbed solo moniker of Priya Sami (Trip Pony, Dateline, Sami Sisters), who also this week delivered us a must-read interview with visiting US indie rockers Local Natives – you can check out that highly entertaining give and take right here.

Our Caught Live video to wrap up the week features Japanese punk legends Shonen Knife, who are playing a three date tour of Aotearoa in November, which literally couldn't come soon enough we reckon. Buzz out to amazing vintage footage of the gang performing their ultra-catchy classic 'Twist Barbie' (from 1983's Burning Farm), to an up for it crowd at NYC's Irving Plaza all the way back in 1993...