HAVE A GO

Rip It Up, Issue 225, 1 May 1996, Page 18

HAVE A GO

Good things may come to those who wait, but life has been undeniably charming for Auckland hardcore outfit Muckhole since they emerged from the practice room to play their first public show early last year.

Originating on the North Shore, Muckhole chose a route familiar to many young bands breaking their first guitar strings and drumsticks. A history of performing covers at parties developed into informal jam sessions where a handful of originals were knocked out, before Sean (vocals), Aaron (bass), Scott (guitar), and new arrival Jason (drums) got serious, and spent six months rehearsing a set of furiously fast pop songs. Muckhole made their debut at Bob in January 1995, and within a year their reputation as a consistently ballistic live act had secured them support slots for Pumpkinhead and Head Like a Hole, and a release on the Wildside label, who issued the ‘Overdrive’ cassingle just prior to Christmas. Muckhole’s excellent fortune continued into the New Year. After a solid Big Day Out appearance, they opened for USA trio Green Day at their one New Zealand concert in February, and this month release the four-song CD EP Where’s the Corndogs? on Wildside off-shoot Felix. The timing of everything has been perfect, says Sean. “Everything has happened fast, it’s been one thing after another, bang, bang, bang, but we couldn’t handle it happening any other way.

We’re all quite impatient people in terms of wanting to get things done. I think it’s got a lot to do with believing in yourself as well, like everything’s pretty new to us, being in a studio and playing gigs, but because of the responses from what we’ve recorded and the gigs we’ve done, it’s been quite easy to believe we’ve got some good stuff going.” Indeed. On record Muckhole offer an irresistibly catchy collection of pop soaked hardcore tunes, and live, their intense pace and energy defies you to keep both feet on the ground. Seans says that’s the desired response — they write to make people jump. “I think the biggest emphasis in Muckhole is on melody, aggressive music with melody, something you can really charge to, that gets you up.” Though Where’s the Corndogs? is just out in the shops, Muckhole are already looking ahead. There’s an album’s worth of songs nearing completion, and the band are hoping their luck will continue to spiral out of control. “We’d definitely like to have a go, whatever ‘having a go’ means. Everything’s happened the way we’ve wanted up till now, so we’re just stay-

ing with the flow.”

JOHN BUSSELL