Tāmaki Makaurau is surely going to be echoing with the Punk Rock chords of the fabulous Celine throughout the rest of the winter! They’re storming back into our lexicon with new single Thanks For Sharing. Described in the EPK as a bit pop-punk, I have to let you know right now it’s definitely more snarlier punk than pop. And that’s damn well fine in my book.

I make no secret of my enjoyment of Punk. Legendary producer Dale Cotton has done justice to the band with this track, giving us a thumping, non-conventional rhythm section with an almost staccato element to the drums of Marty Doo, with some structural changes that add a shake and wake effect that’s totally in keeping with the slightly out there, live vibe of the number. Bass, played by Kirsten Smith, marries in well with the drums and is deep and pulsing. Nice cohesion between the two, delivering an apparently off-tempo bottom end that’s actually anything but! Haha! Cool as f***, frankly.

Now their gig this coming Saturday 22nd June at Whammy Backroom has the great David Mitchell joining them on the guitar. I’m not sure if he’s involved in the recording of the single, but the guitars are subtly layered and tuned, effected (not affected, I know of what I write!) and played like something from a Ramones Greatest Hits vinyl. Fab! Vocalist Rob Lundon has a timbre and sneer to the vocal that makes me think of The Only Ones‘ (they of Another Girl, Another Planet fame) vocalist Peter Perrett, with a little bit of Wreckless Eric’s Eric Goulden thrown in for shits and giggles. Just for term of reference so you can envision what I’m hearing. Rob isn’t a copycat act.

For the meaning, let’s add Rob‘s comments from the EPK: “Basically I was coming out of quite a full on decade or more of my life, and it’s the story of a girl I met, and that relationship. In some ways it was quite good, and in some ways quite bad: a train wreck meets a car wreck. There’s an element of humour obviously, and she did make me sell my guns which was possibly not such a bad thing…” 

If you’re a fan of the revival of the New Wave, the Dunedin Sound, the sound of rebellion that never died since the days of Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, The New York Dolls, and across the pond Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Damned, Buzzcocks and the Pistols, then you have to get into this single. I didn’t get a vid link so pop onto Bandcamp (Spotify pending) for it, and get your drainpipes and safety pins out, and warm up for a Pogo. Punk is never going away!