Jim, the bloke behind Egg Records, contributed an excellent series on Australian indie-pop to indie-mp3 recently. In case you missed it here is a summary. There will be a series on New Zealand indie soon! Anyway back to Jim:
I don't know why Australia produced so many great sounds in the eighties; maybe it was the continuing brilliance of the Go Betweens, the flourishing of The Triffids. Maybe near neighbours, The Chills and Flying Nun inspired. Maybe it was the same general indeterminable reasons that UK pop flourished at the same time.
Of course Australia had its own post punk, not that I knew much, however between the post punk years (See Inner City Sound) and the Nirvana inspired death kneel, there was a lesser known golden age.
The golden age of Australian guitar pop. Easter Records released a series of great records. The Stems inspired power pop boomed, Lo-Fi gems from The Cannanes, pure pop from Club Hoy and The Honeys, quirky post punk of Rabbits Wedding and Lets Go Naked.
Not many are known to the UK audience. Even As We Speak via Sarah Records, the Cannanes, pure pop from Club Hoy and The Honeys, quirky post punk of Rabbits Wedding and Lets Go Naked.
Not many are known to the UK audience. Even As We Speak via Sarah Records, the Cannanes, the Lighthouse Keepers, the Hummingbirds maybe.
Club Hoy - On and On
Club Hoy - Stay With Me
Tender Engines - Girl From The Hinterland
Tender Engines - A Legend Never Fails
The Hummingbirds - Alimony
The Hummingbirds - Get On Down
Let's Go Naked - Stars Shine Bright
Let's Go Naked - Three Limbs
Buy Australian indie pop at Egg Records
the hummingbirds, fine-feathered friends. lost the cassette somewhere in the storage bin, forgot they existed, found this blog, and got a few moments of happiness at this insomniac hour. peace and thanks.