Initially a four-piece, then a trio, the band then settled into the most minimal of rock line-ups: the duo.
It hasn't been a difficult loss, however, with the pair continuing to carve a stabbing, angry, post-punk place in New Zealand's music scene.
Guitarist/vocalist Thom Burton, who first found success in noisy-punk two-piece Yokel Ono, says the format is one that he finds comfortable.
"It's actually pretty liberating. I've been playing in two-piece bands for a while, so I find it quite freeing. It's all about dynamics and setting a good feeling. If it's not a buzz, it's not a buzz, y'know ... there are no fast and hard rules anymore."
The Wilberforces released their first album in the two-piece format, Vipassana late last year, and are now touring to support their new EP, Paradise Beach.
Burton is quick to cement the punk rock roots of the new EP.
"It's pretty fast, and there isn't much chance to dwell. We're not trying to make a bloody rock opera. It's punk and it's rock and roll."
Recording with the same engineer that helped complete Vipassana, Burton and drummer Chris Varnham experimented with incorporating more subconscious, found sounds this time around.
"We recorded with Jackson Hobbs, who has an interesting way of doing things.
"It's nice to put your work in someone else's hands. [Paradise Beach] is pretty lo-fi, but it has digital nuances. Jackson really likes to explore incorporating other sounds ... percussive weird things and subtleties. It could be a bit of a headphones album ... We even toyed with using field recordings from a Bledisloe Cup game [laughs].
"There's even some Led Zeppelin style 'devil in rock' hiss and pops."
See the pair play songs from Paradise Beach when they perform at Re:Fuel next Saturday night.
• After an amazing release and support tour for his debut album, Up Here For Dancing, singer-songwriter Anthonie Tonnon is completing an extra South Island tour leg before heading off to the sprawl of America for a month.
Stripping away his Finance Company, Tono will perform solo, accompanied only by a '60s semi-hollow-body guitar.
According to Tonnon, he'll also be "playing new, lyrically dense songs about such characters as Ponsonby cocaine dealers, nihilistic surgeons, and pubescent skateboarders".
Astro Children, Fat Children (featuring members of Alizarin Lizard, Brown and The Maybe Pile) and Dinosaur Sanctuary (Kang Strang, Astro Children) will be joining Tono for his brief homecoming.
• Clap Clap Riot are embarking on a seven-date nationwide tour in support of their debut album, Counting Spin.
The album was released in June and debuted at No.11on the New Zealand Top 40 album chart.
Clap Clap Riot will select their opening/support bands from artists who are signed up to their artist dashboard on theaudience.co.nz.
See it, hear it
• Wilberforces, Paradise Beach Tour, Re:Fuel (with Two Cartoons and Ipswich) Saturday, September 15.
• Tono with Astro Children, Fat Children and Dinosaur Sanctuary, The Robbie Burns Pub, tonight. Doors open 9pm. Tickets from undertheradar.co.nz
• Clap Clap Riot, Thursday, September 13 at Re:Fuel, 9pm. Tickets from Undertheradar.co.nz
