SHAKE SUMMATION

Rip It Up, Issue 130, 1 May 1988, Page 32

SHAKE SUMMATION

The Tunnellers

Harvest Songs in Hailstorms (PRE-Recorded/Ode 12”) Surprise of the month is this classy EP from Auckland's Tunnellers. The introspective ‘Harvest Songs in Hailstorms’ evokes the singersongwriter era, with crisp acoustic guitars providing a gentle base for Andrew “Ted” Brown’s moving saga of rural decline, which he sings with relaxed conviction. ‘ln This Crowd’ has a rocky thrust that grabs and shakes the listener, before taking a left turn to a melodic middle eight. Hints of Layla in the winding guitar. Another fine song, and like ‘Harvest,’ superbly produced. ‘Heading Off’ is the low-tech final track, a speedy bedroom jangle, Bats-ish, but with good melody. The Tunnellers have put their three eggs in one basket, and it’s paid off with the finest EP for months. The Warratahs ‘Maureen’ (Pagan 7”) My favourite track off The Only Game in Town LP, an exquisite New Zealand tale of relationship breakdown. Simply written and sung dripping with irony and hurt (like all the best country songs) by Barry Saunders. Wayne Mason and the rhythm section provide an easy vamp while Nik Brown’s violin lines emphasise the bitterness in the passionate vocal, with succinct lyrics reminiscent of classics like ‘She Thinks I Still Care’ or ‘She’s Got You’: “She had better things to do ... better things for Maureen." Love the Buddy Holly aside at the end, too: “Mo-o-o-aureen ... fade away Maureen.” Send this song to George Jones now. B-side ‘East of Mt Eden' is an instrumental for a Sergio Leone kumara western. Chris Bourke U2 Book Winners Winners of the U2 biography Unforgettable Fire are: Colin Lyster, Napier; Anasstasia Petley, Green Bay; Jenni Petersen, Kawerau. The answer to last month’s competition was “ The Joshua Tree is dedicated to Greg Carroll.”