The Clean

It's hard to discuss the Clean without resorting to gushing phrases and words of giddy reverence regarding their impossibly perfect music. Perhaps the most important band to spring from New Zealand, they were among the original purveyors of that island country's brand of Post-Punk fuzz pop. The glory days of the Clean (their earliest output) reveal a band riding a rickety pop vehicle that always seems on the verge of losing its training wheels, but one that's repeatedly saved from collision by cushions of fuzzy noise on one side and bright, ecstatic organs on the other. These lo-fi recordings are winsome, murky, and as charming and sloppy as music comes. Listen to the singles "Tally Ho" and "Oddity" for a sample of what can only be described as glowing brilliance. In addition, the Great Unwashed, Bailter Space, the Bats, and founding-member-cum-singer-songwriter David Kilgour are all byproducts of the band. The Clean inarguably remain one of the best bands to emerge in the wake of Punk, and perhaps one of the best ever.