Bad Sav: Bad Sav (Fishrider)

They say this album by a Dunedin trio – guitarist Hope Robinson and bassist Lucinda King of Death and the Maiden, with Mike McLeod of Shifting Sands (here on drums) – was 10 years in the making, which might suggest these folks work at a pretty leisurely pace.

Let's just pretend they've “been busy”.

Because there's nothing laidback about this simmering crockpot of shoegaze, drone-rock, gritty instrumentals (try the wonderfully space-epic sound of Dinner Man early up), architectural constructions of psyche guitar and pure pop-rock melodies.

Recorded at Chicks in Port Chalmers and delivering 10 exciting slices of sound, this album offers songs which can be brittle and shimmering but lacquered by languid vocals (Buy Something New), kinda weird (the veiled menace of the increasingly claustrophobic Pets), massive and reductive pop (TV Theme Tune, the programme might be about slo-mo footage of buildings being blown up) and so much more.

Hen's Teeth is huge pop.

Driest Dust is underpinned by a template of the early VU-influenced Dunedin sound (think chugging Clean from way way back) but soars with Robertson's airborne, psychedelic guitar.

This debut album entered the NZ music charts at 15 last week. Maybe that will encourage them not to wait until 2028 for a follow-up?

Said it before but will say it again: Fishrider are releasing some astonishing albums these past five years or so.

Check out what we've said here about some of them, and their website here.