You know, thongs, the things you put on your feet? Yeah? Well, New Zealanders call them jandals. We can add this fact to their outrageous accent as two pieces of evidence that all New Zealanders are maniacs. To make it certain, we just need one more piece – and I think I’ve found it.
Hottest new genre out of New Zealand – whatonearthisgoingon-wave. Check out the industrial garglings of The All Seeing Hand.
The All Seeing Hand are a three-piece band hailing from Wellington that combine turntablism, throat singing and performing in a giant pink blob. The trio have just released their third album, Fog & Debris, which combines the sadly oft-separated sounds of Tibetan gurgling, industrial clangs, and eccentric honking noises straight out of Mike Patton’s repertoire. The end result is a heavy fog of brooding drums and Slenderman hums, whose uncertain sonic shape leaves one hanging out for a solid point of reference.
However, not all of Fog & Debris is doom and gloom. Some bits and pieces offer a glimpse of certainty and accessibility, with vocalist Jonny Marks (listed as providing ‘Throat’) breaking out into coherent, clean vocals amidst the rest of the album’s drone in the song Show Me Your Teeth.
Fog & Debris, along with previous albums Mechatronics (2013) and The All Seeing Hand (2011), can be experienced online here. The band is currently mid-way through a New Zealand tour, so if you’re going to pop over to the North Island, you may be able to catch them. If you’re lucky, you may be able to witness a live performance matching the weirdness of The Flaming Lips or Rammstein, as the band has been known to perform in whilst held together by a giant, pink fabric ‘blob’.
TOUR DATES
Friday 11 July – Whammy, Auckland
Saturday 12 July – Space Monster, Whanganui
Friday 18 July – MUSA Lounge, Palmerston North
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