My music taste over the past year has changed a wee bit, and
I am loving music that harks back to the 80's, and Ha the Unclear do just that.
Their eccentric sound is filled with unconventional retro alt-pop
music making them the perfect backing track to the New Zealand summer, pity we
have just come into Autumn!
These guys are the kind of band I can see playing at summer
festivals all season long. The perfect band to accompany a day spent with fresh
green grass under one's feet, the sun shining and a drink of choice in hand.
Now I can totally understand that these guys sound may not
be for everyone, but if you are into ambitious musicians creating music of
texture and uncontainable and infectious tunes, then I suggest giving them a
listen.
Their track Wallace Line is filled with vitality and enthusiasm. I really can’t fault it to be honest and I have to say this has to be my most favourite single I have reviewed on muzic.net. I am gutted I won’t have the opportunity to see them live on their current tour, as I can tell they will be just as good, potentially more so when listened to live! I am now off to listen to more of their ridiculously catchy tunes, see you on the other side!
Review written by Ria Loveder
Ha the Unclear (an anagram for Nuclear Heath) initially formed in Dunedin under the moniker Brown. It is off-kilter alt-pop music with vintage overtones and interesting angles: "I've always been your coffee table, shit I've seen some things. Heard words I can't repeat. I'm mute, I'm rimu, I'm loyal" (Secret Lives of Furniture), "The holes in the roof are made from stars/We'll die wondering what we are" (Kosmonavt).
Full-length album Bacterium, Look at Your Motor Go was released September 2014 after a string of singles (Apostate, Secret Lives of Furniture, Growing Mould).
Michael Cathro is joined by Paul Cathro, Ben Sargeant and Theo Francis to deliver songs and stories about elderly regret, a coffee table's infatuation with its owner, tricycling through a New Zealand suburb, pondering the imponderable and the effects of catholic school.