New Zealand's Flying Nun label has grown almost synonymous with the highly influential Kiwi-pop sound that artists on its roster like
the Chills and
Tall Dwarfs helped to create. The groundbreaking moods and melodic sensibilities of the Flying Nun stable throughout the '80s and early '90s set the scene for what would become indie rock, and the pop trappings of bands like
the Clean and
the Verlaines would see regular resurgences as subsequent generations of musicians discovered their sounds and applied their influence. The focus definitely tends toward the "POP" aspects of Kiwi-pop in most discussions about the Flying Nun sound, but the label also gave birth to a good amount of more difficult, less pop-friendly artists.
Bruce Russell -- founding member of lo-fi experimentalists
the Dead C, one of the label's longest-running acts -- compiled
Time to Go - The Southern Psychedelic Moment: 1981-86, which collects 20 tracks from Flying Nun artists experiencing what
Russell terms "Punk's year zero," a time of social upheaval in New Zealand when young artists and musicians explored a darker and more psychedelic side of independent music-making. In extensive liner notes,
Russell lays out some of the environmental factors (both political and musical) that led to this moment in sound, ranging from the country's break from British colonialism to a crop of younger kids in the Dunedin scene all discovering
the Red Krayola at the same time. The songs on
Time to Go sound like a moment of collective discovery and upheaval. The wistful pop that is most popularly associated with Flying Nun is mostly absent on this collection. Even tracks by well-known groups are rooted in either experimental recording or static post-punk songwriting.
Tall Dwarfs offer "Clover," an uneasy neo-psych folk dirge.
The Chills' contribution, a live version of "Flamethrower," is in line with a lot of their eerie melodicism, but twists abruptly through fuzzy changes and percussive breakdowns, adding new layers of darkness to the song's half-finished verses. Tracks by lesser-known acts like
Scorched Earth Policy and 25 Cents are void of melody, falling short of all-out punk abrasion, but definitely looking into the same breed of angry expression as communal punkers like
the Ex and
Dog Faced Hermans. "Russian Rug" by
the Builders and "Jim" by
the Pin Group share a jagged mentality that suggests these bands lived together, had conversations, listened to music together, and participated in each other's lives in the everyday ways that never get mentioned in band bios.
Time to Go does an excellent job of highlighting this very specific moment in New Zealand's punk history, even if it's an especially terse moment. While the sounds herein aren't instantly accessible or even always coherent, the mood is distinct and exacting, expanding the scope of the Flying Nun sound massively. ~ Fred Thomas