Coolies: Master (Chapter)

Coolies -- originally out of South Auckland -- hit a wall about five years ago and despite building a small, very small, local reputation and playing SxSW, their trash/distortion/pop sound which was almost alarming retro (think 1980 alt.indie post-punk) it seemed like it might be all over.

But from the ashes . . .

With two of the original three-piece (Tina and Sjionel, now joined by drummer Stefan) they once again deliver music which is hugely aggressive in its static/distortion sonics (not for the faint-hearted) and still owing a debt to New York's Downtown scene of the late Seventies/early Eighties (the No Wave movement, the Raincoats etc) where power punk ran headlong into avant-guitarists and noisecore.

It can be the sound of bleeding ears, but equally there are some shouty pop songs buried in the lo-fi here, some of which aren't bad.

But I think it would also be fair to observe that Coolies are still being selective about their audience. The sample track and clip (from '02, their first incarnation) will tell you whether you want to be selected.