For NZ Music Month, we're asking local musicians to tell us about the New Zealand songs they love the most. Today, Abe Hollingsworth, from Wellington band Mermaidens, gets nostalgic for some modern local classics.
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It's supposed to be really important to have listened to all the old Flying Nun bands and love the Finn brothers, but I never did any of that. I only woke up in the mid 2000s, so that's where my music knowledge starts. Here's what I've learnt about New Zealand music since I've been awake.
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So So Modern - Berlin
This has to be one of the most sonically tasty songs to come out of New Zealand. I love the woozy slurry of guitars and synths, and the building riff! I always want to singalong to this song, but its almost always a bad idea. The Szo Szo Modern experimental set at Camp A Low Hum was probably the most mind blowing performance I have ever witnessed. So good. So modern.
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Cut Off Your Hands - You and I
I had an unhealthy obsession with Cut Off Your Hands that involved making a bebo skin out of their EP cover and attempting to wildly bite the singer's knee at a Camp A Low Hum. Luckily I have grown out of my fanboyism, but I still turn this up in my car and thrash around violently.
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Trust Punks - Karl Marx Real Doll
Trust Punks are some of the loveliest Aucklanders around. We have played heaps of shows with them, and they've always been banging. Karl Marx Real Doll is a big angry dissonant singalong.
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Womb - Teresa
Womb is love. They are a queer future. They are all from the same womb.
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Hans Pucket - Feelings
These twinnies are the hardest bloody workers out there. The Jalapeno EP is so good and tasty, it's hard to believe it was recorded in a living room with a toothbrush. Hans Pucket write New Zealand classics that you can feel nostalgic for right now.