Hey, Sucker!

Rip It Up, Issue 232, 1 December 1996, Page 11

Hey, Sucker!

“I’ve been in some dodgy bands in my time,” reveals Julian Hansen, singer/guitarist with Auckland pop quartet, Lozenge.

Hansen first came to prominence in the local music scene in 1980, as a member of the very undodgy Spelling Mistakes, who during their short lifespan released two classic New Zealand pop songs, ‘Feels So Good’, and ‘Reena’s Pissflaps’. Over the next 14 years, Hansen played on and off in a variety of bands here and in Sydney (where he lived for five years), with sheer enjoyment being his prime motivation. “I’ve always done it for fun,” he says. Lozenge formed in Auckland two years ago, and endured a series of membership changes, before settling on the current line-up of Hansen, Tony Shields (gat/vocals), Jamie Perillo (bass), and former Straitjacket Fit Mark Petersen, newly positioned on drums. “It was a garage band for a long time,” explains Hansen, “and it’s been such a weird, organic thing, we’ve had lots of other members in and out. It’s almost been of King Loser

proportions, the number of drummers we’ve been through.” Regulars on the live circuit in Auckland, Lozenge have just delivered their first recorded output, the four song EP, Suck on This, recorded at Ground Zero. The EP is the first release Hansen has played on since the 80s, and he’s keen to keep the flow happening. A Lozenge album is planned for 1997, however, it won’t boast a tune as cheeky as ‘Reena’s Pissflaps’. This is the 90s after all, says Hansen. “Let me say firstly, that’s not my song, but no I don’t think you could get away with it now, we barely got away with it then. It was pretty un-PC, but it was in good humour and it was taking a dig at that ‘women’s group’ thing. I’d never do it now, I’d rather forget it — I’m just glad I never wrote it.”

JOHN RUSSELL