Ringlets: Post-punk with a grip that won't let go
Graham Reid is an NZ journalist, author, broadcaster and arts educator. His website, Elsewhere, provides features and reports on music, film, travel and other cultural issues.
The shorthand for Auckland's Ringlets invariably mentions 'post-punk', a term so broad it includes the skewed pop of Toy Love, the mayhem of The Fall and Pere Ubu, the jerky rhythms of The Feelies and Talking Heads, and the left-field rock assault of Headless Chickens and Skeptics.
If 'post-punk' means anything it may just be expression, off the leash.
Ringlets' second album – an extension of their clever, free-wheeling, self-titled 2023 debut – is certainly that. At various points it implodes many post-punk styles into an album with a grip that won't let go.
At the easy entry end is the anxious pop of Heavenly Wheel ('quick, say something profound') and the deceptive, folk rock-adjacent Rolling Blunts on the Dresden Codex, a title that shows Ringlets are clever clogs.
Elsewhere there's the gloom drone, wired-up Posh Girl Holds a Whip about bondage and punishment: 'private education just couldn't iron out kinks in leathery hide. Skin tight to callipyge' (look it up); the snappy I Was on That Roof Once ('spewing aphorisms rolled in glitter balderdash') and the agitated rhythms of Sucking on a Surly Pout paralleling a suffocating dream: 'Caught in a loop rewinding … there's no way out.'
The more measured Half an Idiot devolves into brittle guitar and an angry, agonising scream about the hospitalised results of 'when you mix 12 standards with a quad bike'.
Despite its squelchy rhythm, This Year's Hottest Movie ends the album on its weakest note.
But mostly the well-presented and butter-wouldn't-melt Ringlets – confidently twisting art-pop and expectation like a post-punk version of early Split Enz's unpredictability – surprise frequently in these 40 minutes.
It's not often you hear 'hemiparesis' in a lyric.
This album is available digitally and on vinyl. Ringlets tour: Wunderbar, Ōhinehou Lyttelton, August 1; Secret Show, Ōtepoti Dunedin, August 2; Meow, Te Whanganui a-Tara Wellington, August 8; Whammy Bar, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, August 9.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
07-08-2025
- NZ Herald
Music: Folk Bitch Trio: Breathtaking acoustic pop from Aussie threesome
Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Folk Bitch Trio, from left, Jeanie Pilkington, Gracie Sinclair and Heide Peverelle: Close harmony. Photo / Bridgette Winten Graham Reid is an NZ journalist, author, broadcaster and arts educator. His website, Elsewhere, provides features and reports on music, film, travel and other cultural issues. Subsatellite By Lachie Hayes Produced by Delaney Davidson, this debut by Southland's Lachie Hayes may have its boots in country, but it arrives with the ramshackle rock swagger of Green On Red and the Replacements on The Likes of You ('I'd rather be lying down here in the dirt than doin' business with the likes of you'). Hayes also pulls together the raw edge of traditional blues shaped into the harmonica-wailing Foot Stompin' Boogie; repurposes the spirit and melody from Bob Dylan's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid for Lonesome Hearted Lovers ('cowboys out west go on surviving, I'll just be a shadow out on the horizon'); and on the title track defines himself: 'I got wheels within wheels … you can't put me in your pigeonhole.' That's true of an album that roars out of rockabilly on Convict Guns and goes murderously folk-country for the eerily echoed, menacing S.O.B. The string-enhanced King of the Night Out on the Tiles confirms his ability to craft a song, a story and a character. Quite a debut. Lachie Hayes: He has country roots, but also a ramshackle rock swagger. Images / Supplied Now Would be a Good Time By Folk Bitch Trio This debut by Melbourne's assertively named trio comes with local connections: recorded at Auckland's Roundhead; co-produced with Tom Healey (Tiny Ruins, The Veils, Marlon Williams, The Chills and others) and with guest violinist Anita Clark, aka Motte, (Don McGlashan, Tami Neilson, Voom and more). The trio deny the expectation of their name, with close harmony and sensual folk-pop, slashes of wry humour and tense folk-noir (Hotel TV, The Actor). Moth Song is a lyrical riddle seemingly about a violent death (a mother?) and the beautiful Cathode Ray is loaded with medical and sexual imagery: 'we get home, get the scalpel out', 'with a new procedure he made me glow'. With extraordinary harmonies, subtle melodies and lyrics ripe for analysis, this impressive collection finds aspects of familiar folk bent into new and arresting shapes. It can make you catch your breath. Now Would be a Good Time available digitally, on CD and vinyl; Burning Daylight available digitally and on CD. Images / Supplied Burning Daylight By The Warratahs The Warratahs' almost 40-year career has seen highs, line-up changes, singer Barry Saunders releasing solo albums, and the occasional hiatus. But this album isn't quite as new as you might hope. It collects singles from 2020 with two recent songs, two different versions of one from 2023 (Going Up North and Up North) and live recordings of some old favourites, notably Kupe's Tears and Runaway Days. However, there's honky-tonk, Delta blues (the earthy The Right Time) and a shanty-like sway on Ruby Bay as Saunders considers ships going 'who knows where' over a backdrop of keening violin and the tidal movement of piano. The final piece is Storms at Sea, a fine and broody instrumental with a sample of the marine forecast. Crisply recorded and a roadside layby in their long ride through local landscapes and emotional byways. Now Would be a Good Time available digitally, on CD and vinyl; Burning Daylight available digitally and on CD; Subsatellite digital and vinyl only. Folk Bitch Trio tour: Tuning Fork, Auckland, Sept 26; San Fran, Wellington, Sept 27; Loons, Lyttelton, Sept 28.
NZ Herald
11-07-2025
- NZ Herald
Tami Neilson's Neon Cowgirl reviewed – her time to shine
Tami Neilson: In the driver's seat. Photo / Alexia King Stone. Graham Reid is an NZ journalist, author, broadcaster and arts educator. His website, Elsewhere, provides features and reports on music, film, travel and other cultural issues. Local hero makes a bid for international recognition. It appears 'world famous in New Zealand' Tami Neilson's time has come in that long-sought American market. She's touring with Willie Nelson following her duet with him on the poignant Beyond the Stars and her Neilson Sings Nelson tribute album. Neon Cowgirl – all Neilson originals or co-writes – punches home right from the orchestrated opener Foolish Heart with the cloud-piercing drama of Roy Orbison, an influence also discernible in One Less Heart. Salvation Mountain is the high-energy, boot-kickin' country-rock offspring of Chuck Berry's Too Much Monkey Business and Neilson's own breathless Big Boss Mama. Borrow My Boots is a rollicking banjo-fuelled country-rocker of female empowerment; Loneliness of Love is a piano ballad and You're Gonna Fall arrives out of the desert on twanging guitar as singer JD McPherson becomes the Lee Hazlewood to her Nancy Sinatra. Love Someone is stirring amped-up swamp-funk, Keep On is Southern Gothic storytelling with a soaring, soulful finale. The moving title track featuring co-writer Neil Finn plays to Neilson's reclaiming of women's contribution in country music and aspirations for herself and other women in the genre. It also refers to Nashville's neon cowboy near Ernest Tubb's record shop, her desire to also be up there in lights, and the cowboy that was above Kean's jean shop on Auckland's Queen Street. The latter appeared on the cover of the 1987 Neon Cowboy album by Al Hunter who – along with the Warratahs – made country popular before the 1990s stadium rock of Garth Brooks and 'hat acts', and Americana singer-songwriters before Taylor Swift. So Neon Cowgirl arrives as part of a personal and cultural continuum, and as Tami Neilson's impressive calling card to that American audience she deserves. This album is available digitally, on CD and on vinyl. Tour dates: Opera House, Wellington, October 3; Aotea Centre, Auckland, October 4; Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch, October 11; Theatre Royal, Nelson, October 12; Arts Festival, Tauranga, October 24.
NZ Herald
10-07-2025
- NZ Herald
Ringlets: Post-punk with a grip that won't let go
The Ringlets: Imploding post-punk styles into an album with a grip that won't let go. Photo / Lola Fountain-Best Graham Reid is an NZ journalist, author, broadcaster and arts educator. His website, Elsewhere, provides features and reports on music, film, travel and other cultural issues. The shorthand for Auckland's Ringlets invariably mentions 'post-punk', a term so broad it includes the skewed pop of Toy Love, the mayhem of The Fall and Pere Ubu, the jerky rhythms of The Feelies and Talking Heads, and the left-field rock assault of Headless Chickens and Skeptics. If 'post-punk' means anything it may just be expression, off the leash. Ringlets' second album – an extension of their clever, free-wheeling, self-titled 2023 debut – is certainly that. At various points it implodes many post-punk styles into an album with a grip that won't let go. At the easy entry end is the anxious pop of Heavenly Wheel ('quick, say something profound') and the deceptive, folk rock-adjacent Rolling Blunts on the Dresden Codex, a title that shows Ringlets are clever clogs. Elsewhere there's the gloom drone, wired-up Posh Girl Holds a Whip about bondage and punishment: 'private education just couldn't iron out kinks in leathery hide. Skin tight to callipyge' (look it up); the snappy I Was on That Roof Once ('spewing aphorisms rolled in glitter balderdash') and the agitated rhythms of Sucking on a Surly Pout paralleling a suffocating dream: 'Caught in a loop rewinding … there's no way out.' The more measured Half an Idiot devolves into brittle guitar and an angry, agonising scream about the hospitalised results of 'when you mix 12 standards with a quad bike'. Despite its squelchy rhythm, This Year's Hottest Movie ends the album on its weakest note. But mostly the well-presented and butter-wouldn't-melt Ringlets – confidently twisting art-pop and expectation like a post-punk version of early Split Enz's unpredictability – surprise frequently in these 40 minutes. It's not often you hear 'hemiparesis' in a lyric. This album is available digitally and on vinyl. Ringlets tour: Wunderbar, Ōhinehou Lyttelton, August 1; Secret Show, Ōtepoti Dunedin, August 2; Meow, Te Whanganui a-Tara Wellington, August 8; Whammy Bar, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, August 9.
