For NZ Music Month, we're asking local musicians to tell us about the New Zealand songs they love the most. Today, Doprah's Steven John Marr chats about songs from Voom, Kane Strang, SoccerPractise, Bird Nest Roys and Fur Patrol.
Doprah. Photo: Robin Smith
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Voom - King Kong
Voom is my favourite New Zealand band of all time. Hello, Are You There is tied with my favourite records and is just an amazing listen from start to finish. The record has lots of really sad tracks about love and such, but this song's definitely the "I'm invincible" banger of the record. Voom makes me so happy and sad.
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Kane Strang - Winded
Kane is probably my favourite active New Zealand musician and basically makes the music that I wish I could. Not only are his melodies/general songwriting incredibly refreshing, but he's also a lyrical genius and just a generally great person too. Listening to Kane's music makes me really jealous of how poetic he is, but I also love it.
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SoccerPractise - Windfall
Thom Burton shreds and the vocals on this song are so killer. Windfall is such an infectious track and just another of many songs I wish I'd written myself. It was really really really exciting to go around the country with them.
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Bird Nest Roys - Batcave
I first heard these guys back in 2011. I fell in love with their EP but couldnt get into their album for some reason. Batcave kind of feels like a lost Gordons track to me, minus the chorus, but the song just stays in my head for days and has this dark kind of vibe that I love.
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Fur Patrol - Lydia
I saw Fur Patrol just got back together but I think they were supporting another band on their NZ tour - I wish they would do their own as I dont want to see the other band. Julia Deans is an amazing songwriter and I saw her play at some Christchurch thingy we played at a year or two ago. Although my memory of the whole event is incredibly impaired (the same if not worse for the rest of the Doprah), I can remember how great Julia's perfomance was and how interesting her new songs were. Lydia is an amazing piece of pop music and I hope I get to hear it live sometime in the near future.
