Most New Zealand acts associated with the famed Flying Nun Records favored a sort of intellectual kind of pop. Even a band like The Clean, with music full of hooks that sounded as hard sometimes as Neil Young riffs, seemed altogether more clever than countless bands on this side of the world. That all changed with the rise of Bailter Space as a formidable prospect during the heyday of college rock here in the Nineties.
Originally featuring members of other NZ bands like The Gordons and The Clean, by 1995, and poised to record what would be their fifth album, and final record for Matador Records, Bailter Space were Alister Parker, John Halvorsen, and Brent McLachlan. And for a band with only three members, the group made a helluva lot of noise on Wammo. That release, 25 years old as of 2020, is now coming out again in a remastered edition this week and, in revisiting it, one is again struck by just how meaty the riffs of this outfit were then, and how impressive they sound now, a quarter of a century later.
"Splat" goes more Neil Young than even The Clean ever did, while "At Five We Drive" is shockingly rough. It's not exactly The Jesus Lizard but it's closer than any other New Zealand band ever got, you know? Elsewhere, "Colours" is melodic and down-tempo goodness, while "Glimmer" is even moodier still. This one, full of contrasting undercurrents and roiling tension, is a highlight of Wammo, and an indication of how simple guitar rock could deliver so much. The peppy title cut, among others, takes things on a livelier path, the guitar riffs razor-sharp, and drum-hits wonderfully direct and primitive. There are faint hints here of everything from Band of Susans to Gang of Four, but the music of Bailer Space was wonderfully iconoclastic in an era where so many were trying to sound like either Nirvana or Pavement. Wammo is nearly minimalist, but the feedback, heavy chords, and brutalist percussion anchor this and make it an enduring, if overlooked classic of the era.
Wammo is out on Friday via Matador Records.
More details on Bailter Space via the Facebook page.
[Photo: Matador Records]