The Clean

The Clean were an influential band that formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1978, inspired by punk filtering through to the relatively isolated New Zealand, as well as the classic '60s influences. Led through a number of early rotating line-ups by brothers Hamish and David Kilgour, the band settled down to the well-known line-up with bassist Robert Scott. Early incarnations of the Clean included Peter Gutteridge, later of the Chills, Snapper and others, and who wrote "Point That Thing", on bass, as well as Doug Hodd on vocals (who later worked with Toy Love and founded the "Looney Tours" touring company as well as engineering many of the early Flying Nun releases with Chris Knox). The Clean soon forged a distinctive and quirky sound that relied heavily on organ melodies and simple, Ramones-style chord progressions. Live, the band really came into its own, with David's "five guitars in one" style wowing audiences all over NZ. In 1981, a fan of the Clean founded the Flying Nun label to release their first single, "Tally Ho." A follow-up track off one of their early EPs, "Beatnik", also achieved success, as did the second single, "Getting Older". The Flying Nun label went on to be New Zealand's biggest independent record company, championing the Dunedin Sound, a loosely-connected style of music largely produced by bands from this southern city. Others on the label included The Chills, The Verlaines, The Bats, and Sneaky Feelings. The band split in 1982, with David citing pressure to be a guitar hero every night largely contributing. David and Hamish then worked on the much more low-key project of the Great Unwashed, originally just as a duo, releasing the lovely album "Clean Out Of Our Minds", then recruiting old friend and former Clean-er Peter Gutteridge for the "Singles" EP. In the meantime, Robert had formed The Bats and was forging his own poppy, jangly path. Reforming in the late 1980s, the band found a slightly poppier vein of music while retaining their experimental edge. Although they released several chart-topping songs in their native country, the Clean are a cult band in the rest of the world. However, their influence is surprisingly far-reaching. They became a staple of college radio in the 1980s. Stephen Malkmus of Pavement cites the Clean as a major influence, and the band's droney 80s output is a direct forerunner of Yo La Tengo. Other bands, such as Camper Van Beethoven have a sound that seems heavily influenced by the Clean. The Clean continue to produce music, and Flying Nun recently issued a comprehensive collection of their previously hard-to-find singles. Output from the band has been sporadic over the years, with all group members involved in other projects and Hamish Kilgour now living in New York, where he founded The Mad Scene with his partner Lisa Seigel. David's most recent release is "Frozen Orange''; Robert put the Bats back together after a lengthy hiatus and released "At the National Grid". [edit]