New Zealand-bred pop is on the uptick, albeit a few decades after the movement’s original era. And, in the wake of the recent rediscovery of acts like the Clean, the Bats, Tall Dwarfs, and the Chills, two of Kiwi-land’s best-loved bands are ready to return.

Known for wistful, understated guitar pop, the Bats will release The Guilty Office in June. A few years older and a bit more experimental, the Clean will unleash Mister Pop this September (it’s their first release of new material since 2001’s Getaway). In anticipation of this sudden surge in Antipodean creativity, we rang up the Bats singer/songwriter and the Clean bassist Robert Scott to talk Flying Nun, fallen stars, and what it’s like to juggle two seminal underground acts.

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Chris Knox, founding member of seminal Kiwi outfit Tall Dwarfs, suffered a stroke last week. The New Zealand legend and Flying Nun mainstay is currently recuperating in Auckland. His band’s ’80s and early ’90s output has proven an inarguable influence on uber-credible rock oddities like Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Of Montreal and served as singular inspiration for a recent surge of lo-fi, no-fi, and shitgaze ensembles. His family has set up a blog and plans to issue updates on his status as they occur. For our part, we’ve been watching art-damaged, Beatles-worshiping Tall Dwarfs videos all afternoon (this stuff is insane!). For the un-faint of heart, our four faves after the jump. Read More »