Above Ground – “Gone Aiwa” – [Siltbreeze]

Rumbly rock from a time when cassettes were a
necessity and not a novelty badge or piracy
prophylactic. New Zealand, 1983, keyboard work
painting most of the canvas, guitar as a scrappy
scratch diversion piercing said canvas. “Max Quits”
vocals, baritone mumbly – fitting the lyrics which
feel like they were still amassing. A dirty rehearsal
vibe, some live capture as well, the tape heads
always rolling, The dizzy and dismal keys of Jean
Brown are a highlight with some art tweaked oblique edges.
Eventually some of these songs get re-constructed by
the Bilders, who released an album called Max Quits
and Max morphed back into Bill Direen. Incestual
and ancestral rock from the fertile New Zealand
scene. Siltbreeze connecting the dots.

-Thurston Hunger