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Lil' Chief Records was co-founded by Jonathan Bree of The Brunettes with the purpose of documenting the local Auckland, New Zealand pop scene. Judging from this disc, there's no shortage of talented, adventurous bedroom-pop artists in Auckland, and the label has done a marvelous job of compiling them.
The disc kicks off with The Tokey Tones, who embellish their Spanish guitar and shy vocals with fingersnaps and a chorus of kazoos, and combine boy-girl vocals with an interesting musical arrangement on a later track. The Brunettes contribute 3 tracks: "Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks" is the title track of their first album and features cellos and bloopy Moogy sounds, with an overall reverby 60s, Concretes-esque sound; "Your Heart Dies" is a standout track from their latest disc Mars Loves Venus; and "Maybe White Palisades" incorporates beatboxing, trumpet, glockenspiel, and a lyrical reference to The Avengers. If Pavement were from Hawaii, they might sound a little like The Nudie Suits, who combine sunshiny pop and 70s FM-radio-rock styles with Hawaiian slack-key guitar. If you like keyboards, Shaft has you covered. Fans of Tall Dwarfs will be happy to see a new track from Alec Bathgate, and new fans will be won over because it's an awesome lo-fi power-pop tune. Bathgate's presence lends a little elder-statesman credibility to the disc—not that it doesn't stand on its own merits. Edmund Cake, formerly of Bressa Creeting Cake, provides a beautiful psychedelic pop ballad, and the disc closes out with Ryan McPhun and The Ruby Suns, the project of The Brunettes' drummer. It's a two-part song, beginning as a minor-key carnival waltz with some George Harrison-style guitar work, and then finishing as a shy-vocaled pop song.
This is a wonderfully consistent and enjoyable disc. These bands certainly deserve some recognition outside their native country, so kudos to Lil' Chief for bringing their excellently-curated roster together on this U.S.-distributed disc, not to mention for producing one of the best pop compilations I've heard this year. (mike.09.05)
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