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| Dunedin sound | |
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| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Early 1980s, Dunedin, New Zealand |
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TheDunedin sound was a musical and cultural movement inDunedin,Otago, New Zealand, in the early 1980s. It helped foundindie rock as a genre. The scene is associated withFlying Nun Records,[1] anindependent label.[2]
Bands associated with the Dunedin sound includethe Chills,the Clean,the Verlaines,the Bats,Toy Love,Tall Dwarfs,Straitjacket Fits,Look Blue Go Purple,the 3Ds,the Dead C,Snapper, andSneaky Feelings, among many others.
According toMatthew Bannister, Dunedin sound "was typically marked by the use of droning or jangling guitars, indistinct vocals and often copious quantities of reverberation." Many Dunedin sound bands drew inspiration from punk rock, as well as pop, rock, and psychedelic music of the 1960s.[3]
The origin of the Dunedin sound is often associated with the particular venues that the bands played at, such as theEmpire Hotel and the Oriental Tavern.[4][5]
The Dunedin sound can be traced back to the emergence ofpunk rock as a musical influence in New Zealand in the late 1970s. Isolated from the country's main punk scene inAuckland (which had been influenced by bands such as England'sBuzzcocks), Dunedin's punk groups, such asThe Enemy (which becameToy Love) and The Same (which later developed intoThe Chills), developed a sound more heavily influenced by artists likeThe Velvet Underground andThe Stooges. This was complemented by jangly,psychedelic-influenced guitar work reminiscent of 1960s bands such asThe Beatles andThe Byrds, and the combination of the two developed into the style which became known as the Dunedin sound.[6]
New Zealand-basedFlying Nun Records championed the Dunedin sound, starting with its earliest releases (includingThe Clean's single "Tally Ho!" and the four-band compilationDunedin Double EP, from which the term "Dunedin sound" was first coined[7]). Many artists gained a dedicated "college music" following, both at home and overseas. In July 2009,Uncut magazine suggested that "before the mp3 replaced theflexidisc, the three axes of the international indie-pop underground wereOlympia [in Washington State] ...Glasgow, and Dunedin..."[8] The growth of the Dunedin sound coincided with the founding of thestudent radio stationRadio One at theUniversity of Otago, helping to increase the popularity and availability of the music around the city. Christchurch student radio station RDU, popular in student flats at the time, was already playing plenty of Dunedin music as early as 1981, while commercial radio stations in New Zealand barely featured any "homegrown" music until a voluntary code was introduced in 2002.[9]
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The development of parallel musical trends such as thePaisley Underground in California and the resurgence ofjangle pop contributed to growth in the popularity of the Dunedin sound on college radio in the US and Europe. The heyday of the movement was in the mid-to-late 1980s, although music in the style is still being recorded and released.[citation needed]
Pavement,R.E.M., andMudhoney cite the Dunedin sound as an influence,[10] and other overseas artists, such asSuperchunk,[11]Barbara Manning,[12] andCat Power,[13] have covered Dunedin sound songs on several occasions. Post-2000 a new batch of Australian bands, often referred to asDolewave were heavily influenced by the Dunedin Sound.[citation needed]
The 1999 black comedy filmScarfies, set and filmed in Dunedin, features a soundtrack of Dunedin sound bands.[14]
In 2000, a "Dunedin sound" showcase was presented as part of the Otago Festival of the Arts, held in Dunedin. This showcase featured performances by The Clean, The Chills,the Dead C,Alastair Galbraith,the Renderers,Snapper, andthe Verlaines.KFJC 89.7 FM, an American college radio station based in Los Altos Hills, California, broadcast all six nights of the Dunedin sound showcase live to the San Francisco Bay Area via its FM signal and worldwide over the internet. The following year, a double CD documenting these broadcasts was produced for the station's annual fund-raiser.[citation needed]
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