Another famous-person-name-pun band! X-Ray Charles are two guys from Christchurch who describe their music as “incompetently played, lo-tech, noisy guitar pop”. I’ve never seen them play, so I can’t vouch for how competently or not they wield their guitars, but their sound is kickass.
With two releases under their belt, Weird Hybrid (March 2013) and Selph Titled (May 2013), the boys have spent the majority of their time since then playing a string of live shows around New Zealand. Weird Hybrid is the more experimental of their two releases, mostly written and recorded in one day. The catalyst was the desire to create good music rapidly, inspired by the New York based 12in12x12 Collective, who aim to write 12 songs in 12 hours for each of the 12 months of the year.
Selph Titled is the more universally appealing, good-looking older brother to the slightly pimply and awkward Weird Hybrid. Recorded on a Tascam 424 Mk III 4-track tape recorder with digital vocal overdubs, it is an accessible record with enough grit and fuzz to totally paint the picture of its live performance.
No word as to upcoming shows, but NZ people, keep your eyes peeled (that expression is fucked) and you’ll catch the boys playing their jangly, low-fi pop around the good streets of Christchurch. Wish I could be there!
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