The acclaimed duo of
Chris Knox and
Alec Bathgate's 1980s output on the Flying Nun label was profoundly influential on a generation of lo-fi music. Their influence can be traced in the music of
Yo La Tengo,
Pavement,
Smog, and others working with intimate and primitive songcraft. Legendary home recorders,
Fork Songs continues to expand their self-built universe and deepen their songwriting partnership. Fearless assemblages of noisy loops, primitive guitars, and household objects are the instruments favored, and the ease with which they sculpt oblique elements into delicate upbeat songs is stunning. Like the
Television Personalities, their low-tech methods prove that great songs will transcend recording methods, and
Fork Songs is only another crucial chapter in the book of musical invention that the New Zealand duo wrote. ~ Martin Walters