Dead Flowers - Sweetfish (2004)

Auckland band, Dead Flowers, followed up their 1993 release with this album - "Sweetfish" in 1994. The cover is very colourful and reminds me of some of the Art Trading Cards I've seen on my favourite forums. Lots of faces, eyes, hands and worms all randomly juxtapositioned around each other and all in vibrant and bright colours. It is vibrant and psychaedelic and fun.

First track "Watch Her Play" varies little from those on their earlier album - it is poppy and colourful, fast and sunny.

Still bright and bouncy, but Bell's vocals are taking on a slightly rawer edge with the inappropiately named "Gothic". The lyrics and vocals have a somewhat nasty edge but overall, it's fast and almost cheerful sounding.

Somewhat moodier, "Same Same" might seem an odd song to release as a single - given the chorus is along the lines of "it's the same, same shit... no one to blame everyone to bitch" and of course it got editted when it was played on public television. You can't say "shit" on tv! Another with a bitter edge. Good rhythms: fast verses, smooth purr of a chorus. Kinda catchy, but you've gotta watch where you sing it!

This is followed by the other single release: "Home". Released the year after Pumpkinhead's "Home" and a year before Shihad's "Home Again".  Not sure what it is about NZ bands' obssessions with home. This one is a fast and frantic, helter-skelter piece with aggressive guitar and whining vocals.

A slower number, "She Can't" features the now fairly standard semi-whining vocals. The music is smooth, but with erratic quirks and the chorus a steady and catchy pace.

A nice intro into "Dead Boy" with repetitive twiddly guitar rhythms giving it an almost oriental flavour. repetitive but shows some pretty competent guitaring. The last line is pretty cool:

"Too much like a praying mantis couple - give it up lest your head will tumble."

Now we race into the almost-punk frenzy of "What Do You Take Me For?" Vocals by Damon Newton, who is a lot rawer than Bell.

We mellow a little for "Shades", slowing the pace and with Bell's voice returning in its usual maudlin counterpance.

Heavy bass leads is into "Some Brain Ride" with its low and somewhat ominous vocals and rhythms.

Picking up the pace again, "Not Ready" starts with a guitar eruption and displays some rather competent rockin' out.

Slow again, as we fall into "Slumber". Starts slow and dreamy with the lightest of drums. Building, vocals rising like a gentle embrace. Soothing, soft, like lying in a pile of pillowy clouds. The guitars join in, lightly strumming. Then it surges into awakedness. An goes on for a very long time...

"Spaceboy" is the slow, melodious and haunting conclusion to the album, and the stand out track in my opinion. It's beautiful.


Overall, a fairly uninspiring album, perhaps following too fast on the heels of the debut. Very few of the songs offer anything new or different and it all rather blurs into one. Not a bad album by any regard, just not particularly fresh and original and with few stand-out tracks.

Rating = 7/10

Dead Flowers - Skin of a Stone (1993)

It appears that 1993 was the hayday of NZ rock music. The Dead Flowers were an indie-pop-rock band with a few hard rock elements that formed in Auckland in the early 90s. They received reasonable airplay and modest levels of fame, including opening for some well renowned acts - including Guns N Roses and received good reviews and overall seemed to have been on the road to success.

Their first single was "Lisa" and I actually went to a short acoustic performance at a local music store, and got my cassingle autographed. They laughed at me - in a nice way - because at that point they'd been around for some time and released a lot of other stuff and here I am presenting them with a cassette tape to sign - and not even a full length album , a cassingle. Anyhow, I am pleased to say I now own all three of their albums - two on cd and one of cassette. Although I will confess, they were pretty cheap (this one, for example was 50% off $16.99.

This was the only time I ever saw them live. I guess they never played at underage events locally.

This century, however, it appears they have vanished into obscurity, although vocalist Bryan Bell appears to be pursuing a solo career. The good news is that due to their relatively succesful career, I should have some videos to share with you, the possibly uninitiated reader.

Now, back to their first album release. The cover is one of those fold-out-into-a-poster ones, except that the only cover image is on the bit that sits in front of the cover and the rest is all the lyrics and band photos. The main cover shows a rather distorted and blurry image of an angel statue, next to a headstone. Very moody.

The album opens with the rocking "Be Someone". It's quite heavy, with an edge of aggression. Bell has a strong voice, with a sharp edge of angst. This is a song about paternal child abuse - so pretty heavy stuff, as is reflected in the hard guitars and the angry tone.

"Someday" is somewhat less passionate and inspiring.

There's something undeniably gloomy about "Underground". With its slow rhythms, melodic harmonies on the chorus and general down-tuned sound of the instrumentations. And the lyrics reflect this:

"Goodbye sunshine, hello rain, come tomorrow here again."

 Another somewhat maudlin piece, "Plastic" picks up the rhythm a bit and rises to a relatively stirring (if slightly sarcastic) chorus. I like the video for this one, since they seem to be trying to do the whole vampire-goth thing. The lyrics have a distinctly nasty edge. I would suspect this is a "break-up" song.  Good solo in the middle there, building like a steamroller of disgruntlement.

Sunshine speckled, dreamy guitar with an echoey edge lends us some "Karma" - a song that radiates colour and sunshine, light and love. The vocals are gentle and sweet. A rather short piece.

Erratic, dramatic; like (extremely musical) nails on a chalkboard, we enter into "Madness". There's almost a Deep Purple edge to the opening guitar rifts which are heavy, then dancing up and down the neck. Falls quickly into fairly regular rhythms.

Bright, vibrant and colourful guitar introduce us to "Lisa" this is a cheerful, lively piece with a high edge to the guitar strumming, melodic vocals and a general feeling of sunshine and life.

To follow up the cheer, we have "The Killing of Lisa". This is a slow, acoustic number with a decidedly melancholic edge. You cannot help but wonder how exactly Lisa died - and if it is a physical or metaphorical death:

"Cause you see the sun crashing to the floor. Your rainbows crash and your windmills soar..."

 The not-at-all-country "Better Dead than a Country Singer" follows it up, with its cynical, bitter and somewhat sarcastic edge to the vocals and the mocking rhythms of the instruments.

Another slower piece, with aching vocals, "Ma Ma Picture" has good rhythms, slightly erratic and with a hint of the melancholic.

"Mihi" starts with a quote in Maori, translated into English and then a gentle and sorrow-filled folk song in Maori, from a female singer, Whaea Hadfield (Riqi's wife? Or sister?). About halfway through, Bell takes over, adding his own haunted voice. Another electric acoustic piece.

Final track "Collision" gets off to a headlong, racing start. I reckon this would be a good song to play over surfing video footage. Vocals are fast, frantic and the guitars chug along. Energetic with a hint of aggression and a touch of distortion.

Overall, a polished and very nice album from a skillful New Zealand band. They were professional and talented and produced a good solid, but accesible rock album that has a distinctly kiwi flavour, a touch of sunshine and their own distinct sound. Rating = 7/10