Independent music legend Grant Hart, the co-leader, songwriter and drummer of the critically lauded Minneapolis punk trio Husker Du, makes his second visit to Dunedin later this month.
Setting the sonic template for what would become alternative rock and profoundly influencing the likes of Nirvana and the Pixies, Husker Du put the hooks, melody and raw aggression of punk alongside pure pop styling and erstwhile romanticism.
Returning after a well-received solo tour in 2010, Hart will perform accompanied by his backing band, The Grant Hart Conspiracy, and will be covering tracks from his time in Husker Du to his more introspective solo output, and his recent double album drawing on William S. Burroughs and John Milton called The Argument.
"This tour is a celebration of his career if you will,'' promoter and leader of the Tauranga Music Sux group Scowlin' Wolf tells me via email.
"He will be playing like he always does whether it's in front of 10 or 1000 people - with heart, humility and energy lost by most musicians his age. The man has seen and done it all and yet he is still happy to fly economy to NZ, sleep on couches and drive far and wide to meet and perform for his many fans. That is why the man is a legend.''
MEET THE PARENTS
Auckland hardcore rhapsodic punk mainstays Parents is visiting Dunedin on the back of its album Great Reward, which was released online and on vinyl by the band this week.
Nine songs of expressive, brutal and overwhelming punk, Great Reward melds bone-snapping tension and pace (half the songs here clock in at sub-1min10sec) with abrasive, textured slow-hammer screamo pounding.
The tension builds and builds until all is resolved in the closer, Wounded.
An emotional epic, Wounded treats the roar of a guitar and anguished voice as a transformative and quasi-holy cathartic experience.
It's absolutely awe-inspiring, and is an early pick for Best of the Year lists.
Dunedin punk rock outfits Machina Rex and YUNG NAT$ will support Parents.
SECOND HOUR
Rock writer turned musician Grant McDougall leads post-punks Second Hour in a headline show at the Crown next week.
McDougall, who wrote for Rip It Up and Real Groove in the 1980s and '90s, is a relative newcomer to performing, getting his start with a handful of solo shows in the past few years.
"Many years ago I interviewed Tim Gane from Stereolab and he said something that always stuck with me,'' McDougall recalls.
"I asked him how he got into music, and he said that he was sick of being passive about music and wanted to be active and that completely struck me. So about four years ago, I finally took the plunge and bought a guitar, and I wish I'd done it decades ago.''
Mick Elborado, a member of long-running moody garage/psychedelic band the Terminals and Scorched Earth Policy, joins McDougall on keyboard.
"We're really on the same wavelength,'' McDougall says.
Slow and dark keyboard combo Richard Maybe's Passion For Nature and weirdo-improvers Vantablack will support.
Be there
• The Grant Hart Conspiracy (US) with support from Astro Children, Saturday, February 27, at Chick's Hotel, Port Chalmers. Tickets available through UndertheRadar.co.nz for $40 or $45 at the door.
The Chick's Hotel Magic Bus leaves Countdown Central at 8.30pm, and the University of Otago library at 8.35pm, returning to town after the show.
• Parents' Great Reward 10'' Release Tour with Machina Rex, YUNG NAT$, Thursday, February 18, at the Crown Hotel. Listen/buy at parentsnz.bandcamp.com/
• Second Hour with Richard Maybe's Passion For Nature and Vantablack, Saturday, February 20, at the Crown Hotel. Doors 9pm, $5 entry.
