Music News

Weekly Roundup: Friday 15th January

Chris Cudby / Image: Na Noise / Friday 15th January, 2021 1:59PM

We're stoked to be back in the UTR saddle after a few leisurely days of soaking up summer rays, sampling Aotearoa's festival season, and staring aghast at the orange-faced political madness unfolding overseas. We hope you've had a chance to take it easy after an absolutely hectic and at times frankly quite stressful 2020 — a huge shoutout to everybody who have been working hard at day jobs over the past month.

We have a bunch of super cool projects ready to reveal for 2021 (hint: involving video pros Sports Team) that we'll be telling you all about very soon, but in the meantime let's have a look at what's happening right now gigs-wise. As it's still a tentative state of affairs regarding the global pandemic raging outside Aotearoa's borders, we sincerely encourage you to do your bit to help our live scene keep thriving. Don't be a ding-dong who couldn't be arsed, it really is as easy as scanning the Covid tracer app (download it here), getting into the habit of using it every time, and masking up when appropriate.

Announcement highlights for the last few weeks (a traditionally quiet news period) included: Pōneke dream-fuzz crew Transistor announced their their biggest tour yet, kicking off this weekend in Tāmaki Makaurau and Ōtepoti, Mermaidens announced their very own Mermgrown festival will be happening in Pōneke this February, party punks DARTZ are celebrating the success of their chart-topping banger 'High At The Beach' with a whirlwind run of national summer tour dates, Chelsea Jade is escaping the US and touring Aotearoa in February, March and April, Pōneke bedroom-pop foursome Macho Macho are gearing up for a glistening summer tour, and Tāmaki Makaurau via Lancashire songwriter Tim Allen (no relation) and bandmates The Two are celebrating the launch of their forthcoming single 'Love Is A Pill' with an extensive national tour in March, April and May. That's by no means all — Aotearoa's premier celebration of punk rock and ska Punk It Up V revealed a refreshed lineup of all-local legends due to ongoing Covid restrictions, K M T P's big-hearted debut collection P.S. C U Soon receives a long-awaited celebratory launch event at Tāmaki Makaurau's The Wine Cellar in mid-February, and the first annual Naked Whammy Fest was announced, featuring Voom, Echo Ohs, Amamelia, Phoebe Rings, Alexa Casino, Leaping Tiger, Hospital Sports and Party Dad at Whammy Bar and Whammy Backroom, absolutely free (!) on 30th January.