Live Photos & Review: Earth Tongue, Hans Pucket - Wellington

I'm still nursing a bit of regret about only catching the last song of Earth Tongue’s set when they opened for Queens of the Stone Age. So this time, I made the conscious adult decision to arrive early. A full night, a proper night out. The venue was Meow Nui, Wellington’s latest live music gem, the kind of place you wonder how the city went so long without. Decent size, great sound, and full of that subtle charm you can’t fake. It’s obvious this place should exist, like fresh air or decent coffee.

Hans Pucket kicked off as a three piece, Jonathan Nott conspicuously absent but somehow present, his voice counting in a tune through a voicemail played on a phone pressed up to the mic. In 2025, even absence is performative. Their set was tight and confident, slipping effortlessly between styles, like a band who’s practised but also clearly care and that’s a scary combo. I heard hints of Vampire Weekend, The Beths, and a sprinkle of Split Enz when they were at their gloriously weird best. Somewhere in the mix lurked Britpop, like a ghost still wearing sunglasses indoors. You don’t need to know the words to find yourself smiling and nodding along. Halfway through, you realise you’re having a proper good time.

And then Earth Tongue took the stage.

If Black Sabbath fell through a wormhole, landed here in Aotearoa stripped of cocaine budgets and label pressure, this is probably what they’d sound like. Gussie Larkin and Ezra Simons don’t mess about. No massive smoke machines, no ironic synth solos. Just thick, volcanic fuzz and drums that throb with the sincerity of a tax audit. There’s no pandering. They do their thing, and you’re either on board or flattened under the wheels.

They kicked off with 'Reaper Returns', a title that suggests the Reaper once left for a side hustle, maybe crypto or sourdough baking, but now he’s back and louder than ever. 'Hidden Entrance' sneaks in next, sly and slippery, like a trapdoor you didn’t see coming. 'Portable Shrine' buzzes like a cursed VHS tape found buried in a crate. By the time 'S N T S' hits, you’re hooked. I’ve no idea what it stands for ['Sit Next To Satan' - Ed.], but it doesn’t matter. It knows you.

'Astonishing Comet' lives up to its name. 'Symmetry Dripper' throws balance out the window, and that’s just fine, Euclid was a nerd anyway. In a perfectly absurd moment, Callum Devlin from Hans Pucket strolls on stage with a glass of red wine, lets out a guttural growl into the mic like he’s just been rejected by NZ On Air, crowd surfs through the electric crowd, then calmly collects his drink and exits. No explanation. No fuss. Just the perfect reminder why live music still matters.

They closed with 'Out of this Hell' and 'Bodies Dissolve Tonight', songs that sound like rejected Hammer Horror titles but somehow feel like affirmations.

Earth Tongue are the real deal. Heavy without losing shape, psychedelic without disappearing up their own reverb. Two musicians making massive, moving music with conviction. If they’re near you, don’t miss them. But get there early. Or spend the rest of your life telling people how you almost saw them. Again.

Click on the thumbnail images below to view a gallery of Bruce Mackay's snaps from Saturday night + check out his footage of Earth Tongue playing 'Microscopic God'...