The Days of Lore

Mad buzz for ‘Bad Buzz’

Monday, April 12th, 2010 | musiX, pdX | 2 Comments

Well, I’d hardly qualify a few words on The Days of Lore as “buzz.” But I do think buzz is an interesting word—its different meanings, the way it looks … buzz. OK, one more time—buzz.

New Zealand/Portland four-piece the Mint Chicks received a fair share of buzz upon the release of their second Flying Nun LP Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! (including some love buzz from TDoL), a record that combined hooks with with jittery experimental noise (a style the band has dubbed “troublegum”). It finally hit U.S. soil in 2008 after winning every imaginable award in New Zealand. The band’s next record Screens was released in early 2009, and it still hasn’t gotten a fair shake here in the States. It’s criminal, I tell you.

The Chicks bypassed all the label/distro nonsense this time around with their latest Bad Buzz EP, available exclusively through musichype.com as a very practical (and cool looking) 1GB USB drive (it’s also available here as a download). The title track sounds like pure Zombies pop before the troublegum kicks in at about 1:45. Easily one of the best songs the Mint Chicks have written to date.

I’m thinking the next full-length should just come on a brand-new iPad. Now that would move some units, while at the same time create some much-deserved buzz …

… buzz.

“Bad Buzz” - The Mint Chicks

Tags: Bad Buzz, buzz, Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!, Flying Nun, Screens, The Mint Chicks

Mint Chicks: PDX. Pop. Now.

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

The songs I’ve heard from the Mint Chicks‘ latest record Screens don’t immediately grab me … and I like to be grabbed. Hard. The New Zealand/PDX trio’s 2006 Flying Nun release Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!—now that grabbed me. It also, occasionally, made me tense.

I do like this song, though, as I do the accompanying video. “Hot On Your Heels” continues with the Chicks’ self-proclaimed “troublegum”—combining ’50s rock ‘n’ roll with psychedelic cyberpunk and those klassik Kiwi pop sensibilities. The Mint Chicks are currently shopping the new record around labels in the States, but “Hot On Your Heels” is available now on the new PDX Pop Now! compilation. It’s a two-minute sugar high of jittery bliss. Just ask the poor baby in the video in about 15 years.

Mint Chicks, video for “Hot On Your Heels”

Tags: "Hot On Your Heels", Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!, Flying Nun Records, Mint Chicks, PDX Pop Now!, Screens

The Mint Chicks: It’s them, not me

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

I was going to go with the headline “Chicks with dicks,” but thought that would be sophomoric and tasteless … and I don’t need people thinking I am either of those. Continuing with my fascination with male bands with female names (The Girls, Women), I give you The Mint Chicks.

I was actually in New Zealand around the same time The Mint Chicks made the big move to Portland … I thought they might be avoiding me. The Auckland trio came to the States in January despite their hugeness back home, where they’ve won every award possible for their 2006 Flying Nun release Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! (re-released in the U.S. in September).

Brothers Kody and Ruban Nielson (vocals, keys; guitar respectively) and drummer Paul Roper are putting the finishing touches on their next record Screens, and announced this week that it should be out in February 2009. A few of the new songs including “Life Will Get Better Some Day” and “2010″ are available on the band’s MySpace.

I’ve seen the band use “troublegum” to describe their sound. It couldn’t be more accurate. The Mint Chicks take rock from the last four decades—including ’60s bubble gum, ’70s punk and new wave—and lets it loose with the nervous energy of an abused Chihuahua. When I listen in to them in the car sometimes I bob along with a goofy grin on my face, sometimes I just want to ram the bad driver in front of me … maybe it’s just me.

The Mint Chicks will play a handful of dates leading up to the release of Screens, including this Thursday at Portland’s Rotture. Check ‘em out. You might catch them hanging from the lighting rigs, or attacking the stage with a chainsaw (OK, it’s not just me). Maybe I should title this “Minters make splinters.” Perhaps not.

Mint Chicks dates (all Portland):

11/20 at Rotture with Bret Vogel
12/12 at Someday Lounge with Blue Horns
12/19 at Crystal Ballroom with the Presidents of the United States of America
1/3 at the Doug Fir with Lookbook and The Prids

“Life Will Get Better Some Day” - The Mint Chicks (Screens, 2009)

Video for “Walking Off a Cliff Again” off of Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!

Tags: "2010", "Life Will Get Better Some Day", Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!, Flying Nun Records, New Zealand, Screens, The Girls, The Mint Chicks, Women