Stephen - Radar of Small Dogs

Stephen - Radar of Small Dogs

More shabazz from New Zealand. While David Kilgour had another one of his sabbaticals from The Clean, he recorded material with this outfit between 1987 and 1990 alongside the likes of Alf Danielson (Goblin Mix), Geoff Hoani, and later on Stephen Kilroy (whose "45 Degrees Below Frozen" always has a place in my heart). They dropped one EP for Flying Nun, the jangly and propulsive drive of 1988's Dumb, before they disbanded midway through recording their debut. This 1993 collection features that EP, then some 1990 demos that sound pretty well realized, and closes out with two live recordings from a tavern in Christchurch. Some of this really anticipates musical developments of the Nineties; aside from the hints of The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Wolfhounds, songs like "Tape Machine" hint at My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and some of their material sounds a bit like what Pixies were doing at the same time. "Little Audrey" would have fit well on The Adventures of Pete & Pete next to Chug's "Flowers." Speaking of Chug, Kiwi luminaries like Norma O'Malley of the aforementioned group and Peter and Graeme Jefferies (Nocturnal Projections, This Kind of Punishment) make appearances on some of these songs.