Dunedin indie rock bands Asta Rangu and Males are teaming up for a five date tour across Aotearoa in early February 2021, to celebrate the release of their split single “I DREAM / CLEAR LAKE”, released on the 29th of January 2021.
Asta Rangu, led by Dunedin musician Richard Ley-Hamilton, will headline the tour.
Asta Rangu came to life with the release of the 2017 EP “Plasticine” (recorded by Tex Houston in Dunedin), an early release on Dunedin independent label trace/untrace records. The EP is both melodic and angular, with hook-laden wordplay set against swirling arrangements. Bandcamp called it “an excellent debut … a fluid rock ‘n’ roll record full of tightly wound guitars and soaring vocal melodies,” while Elsewhere magazine concluded “plasticine ignited something in me that cannot be explained through mere description, and must be experienced first-hand.”
Recently returning from the UK, Ley-Hamilton has recruited long time collaborator Josh Nicholls (Koizilla/Space Bats Attack) on drums, trace/untrace co-founder Julie Dunn (Bathysphere, Mary Berry) on keys and treasured running mate Angus McBryde (The Broken Heartbreakers) on bass. With newfound energy and confidence, Asta Rangu have burst onto the scene with a debut run of sell out shows in support of Marlin’s Dreaming, Ha the Unclear and The Beths.
Ley-Hamilton likewise leads Males, who charmed the indie scene in New Zealand from 2012 to 2015 with their “hyper-melodic, adrenaline infused, garage pop nuggets, with big hooks and bigger choruses.” (When You Motor Away, 2013)
Breaking an extended hiatus, announced shortly after the release of their debut album “None the Wiser”, Males will play for a final time - “call it unfinished business”.
