For NZ Music Month, we're asking local musicians to tell us about the New Zealand songs they love the most. Today, Yukon Era's Lachie Thurlow fills us in on the punk songs that influence his band's own sound.
L-R: James Thorrington (Drums), Pierre Beasley (Bass), Lachie Thurlow (Guitar), Christian Dimick (Guitar/Vocals). Photo: Supplied
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Die! Die! Die! - HowYe
This song has always been huge for us. Die! Die! Die! were pretty much our introduction into post 2000s punk in New Zealand. HowYe specifically was the song that drew us in the most and still makes us feel super psyched whenever we hear it. We play it whenever we're driving to a show because it put us in the mood to play. Andrew has been a huge help to us over the years too, so it's really cool to be able to know them personally as well as really enjoy their music.
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Trust Punks - Leaving Room For The Lord
The new Trust Punks single is so sweeeeet. Christian and I have played with them heaps in a previous band so we're pretty good mates with them. It's really cool when your mates put out crazy good music. They've become a pretty big influence on our sound in the last year or so, and led us to many cool other bands. We can't wait till the rest of the album is out because if it's anything like this then it will be next lev.
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The Mint Chicks - The Son
The Mint Chicks are in our top three New Zealand bands ever. All their songs are incredible so it was hard to pick one. But this song stands out because it takes us back to the first time we played in Wellington and our mates Joel and Frazer showed us the RNZ live recorded version of this song. When we first heard Kody scream "Everybody kill somebody" we wanted to jump through a wall in excitement. Sadly this is as close as we'll ever get to hearing them live ourselves.
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Soda Boyz - Das Dreamland
Das Dreamland is the type of song that I have been trying to write for three years. Soda Boyz are easily one of the best New Zealand bands at the moment and they're crazy to see live. They're such nice dudes and have always let us crash/play at theirs when we have stopped past Palmy. They are one of those bands that are just too good to be kept hidden, so hopefully more people find out about them when they release an EP or whatever. Great blokes and this is a banger of a tune.
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Caroles - Emo
Caroles were another one of those bands that got us into New Zealand punk. We'd been listening to this song heaps for a while, and we got into Whammy (with parents!) to see them play. Luckily we got to see them before Christian thought it would be a good idea to talk to someone at the bar, resulting in him being immediately kicked out after they saw his piss poor moustache and assumed he was 12. Can't wait until these boys start playing again (come back Lawry).