No Love – No Hate
(Fishrider - FISH002) CD $15.00 (Out-of-stock)
The Puddle have been around, in one form or another, since 1984, attracting critical appreciation and notoriety in equal measures for “pop as shambling and sweet as you could possibly imagine.” That is, when this unique New Zealand underground music institution’s strange odyssey wasn’t getting derailed (which it was, frequently). No Love - No Hate is George Henderson’s great leap forward, recorded in the 1990s but not released in 2009. The Puddle’s idiosyncratic character and wry, fuzzy delivery is infectious.
Playboys In The Bush
(Fishrider - FISH005) CD $15.00 (Out-of-stock)
(Fishrider - FISH005) LP $24.00 (Out-of-stock)
Sixth album to be released by Dunedin underground psych-pop band (although it’s the third they recorded). Fans of Pavement and 1990s American slack can squint and see the southern-hemisphere brotherhood of nonchalance.
Secret Holiday / Victory Blues
(Fishrider - FISH007) CD $15.00 (Out-of-stock)
(Fishrider - FISH007) LP $24.00 (Out-of-stock)
The seventh album by New Zealand underground psych-pop legends.
THE PUDDLE / ROBERT SCOTT / ADALITA SRSEN
That's What I Heard b/w Average Sensual Man
(Fishrider - FISH004) split 7-inch $12.75 (Out-of-stock)
New Zealand’s reigning ambassador of strum Robert Scott (The Clean, The Bats, Magick Heads) duets with Magic Dirt’s pop-rock powerhouse Adalita Srsen for the rustic “That’s What I Heard,” described by Still Single as charming and heartfelt, “nothing but sweet, full-sounding acoustic guitar, tambourine, and … two beautiful voices complementing one another.” On the flip, The Puddle’s slightly out-of-character “Average Sensual Man” delivers some underground cabaret psych-pop, Dunedin-style, with guests Al Starrett on accordion and viola, and vocalist Sharon Cunningham imbuing the track with a smokey jazz vibe. Both tracks are exclusive to this release.
The Shakespeare Monkey
(Fishrider - FISH003) CD $15.00 (Out-of-stock)
The second of the Puddle’s albums following their 2006 comeback — a sprawling masterpiece of wigged out dreamy indie-pop. Articulate and well-read, George Henderson’s typified literate guitar music in the 1980s and ’90s New Zealand.