Tall Dwarfs
Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate have made music together since 1977, as founding members of one of New Zealand's first punk bands called The Enemy. They then formed Toy Love in 1979, which signed to WEA, had a few charting singles, then broke up. In 1981 Chris and Alec returned as the Tall Dwarfs. They purchased a TEAC four track and became home-recording pioneers, who would later influence bands such as Pavement, Yo La Tengo, and Neutral Milk Hotel.
"We would listen to the Tall Dwarfs [legendary New Zealand Flying Nun band] and we'd think, 'Gosh, these guys are recordings stuff on 4-track, it sounds totally hi-fi.' We'd listen to the Beatles and Beach Boys and think, 'These guys recorded on 4-track and it sounds totally hi-fi.' We said to ourselves, 'We have a 4-track, it doesn't sound so hi-fi but it's something to shoot for.' So we decided these recordings that we were making weren't just f***ing around, they were albums." -from a 1998 interview with Robert Schneider (The Apples (in Stereo) / producer Neutral Milk Hotel & The Olivia Tremor Control)
Hypnotic tape-loop rhythm tracks & brilliant songwriting with lyrics that range from the political - "Sign the Dotted Line" to the nature of human existence - "Bodies".