First time re-press of a semi-mythical transmission from the mid 90s New Zealand underground brought to light by the ever-astute ears over at Discreet. Originally released as a 10" lathe cut in an edition of 120 through the band's own label, it's unlikely many will have heard these songs in full outside of the comparatively insular orbit of the Wellington scene. But if anyone further afield was going to be listening, it was sure to be that sharp lot in Gothenburg. Dress were a short-lived three piece comprising Yuri Frusin and Helen Johnstone from The Garbage & the Flowers, and Kristen Wineera from Entlang, and the five songs they managed to record together certainly bear some of the hallmarks of their parent bands - the dissonant sprawl of Entlang framing the folksy intimacy of tG&tF in a a kind of free-associative fog. When present, Helen Johnstone's vocal, either reciting Gertrude Stein or drifting along with her own elusive poetry, is the anchor for these semi-improvised half-songs, and is surrounded by distant piano clashing with droning guitar, tape loop sample warble and sax discordance. These are inherently mysterious sounds charged with their own strange gravity, pulling you in against your better judgment, like an abandoned cabin deep in the woods demanding closer inspection... Certainly traces of the dark and stormy aspects of Peter Jefferies, This Kind of Punishment, Xpressway et al, but the spirit probably aligns more with the free music approach of the World Resources group operating out of Wellington at the same time. And i don't think it's much of a stretch to suggest that Dress were up to had a big influence on those first few Enhet for Fri Musik records. Bafflingly beautiful noise-making that, really, could have only come from that NZ lathe cut world. V. limited. Will fly out.
