It's Bigger Than Both Of Us - NZ Singles 1979-82

It's Bigger Than Both Of Us - NZ Singles 1979-82 (Disc 1)

It's Bigger Than Both Of Us - NZ Singles 1979-82 (Disc 2)

Here's a pretty decent primer into the early punk, pop-punk and post-punk sound of New Zealand, featuring records from the more prominent independent labels in the aforementioned country like Flying Nun, Propeller and Ripper, along with some other songs that appeared on smaller, sometimes self-released imprints. Two of New Zealand's most internationally revered bands, The Clean and The Chills, make appearances here. Other notable groups include Toy Love (the group that Chris Knox of Tall Dwarfs had the most success with in the Southern Hemisphere), The Screaming Meemees ("Sunday Boys" was a huge hit in NZ and "See Me Go" topped the charts—both are included), Pop Mechanix, The Swingers and Blam Blam Blam. (The latter's "best of" appears elsewhere on this blog.) There's a few things I'd nitpick over the exclusion of, like Mi-Sex, Riot 111, The Gordons and The Pin Group, but that's a minor gripe. Otherwise, this kind of encapsulates the nascent independent sound of New Zealand during the reign of Robert Muldoon, in the days where English music magazines would arrive over a month late, where revered singles and albums from abroad would take a year to get released and would debut in the upper echelons of the national charts after months of anticipation, and where Kiwis rioted over the national rugby team (All Blacks) having to play against Apartheid-era South Africa's Springboks.