Sneaky Feelings
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Sneaky Feelings | |
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Origin | Dunedin, New Zealand |
Genres | Dunedin rock |
Years active | 1980–1989, 1992, 2017–present |
Labels | Flying Nun Records |
Members | Matthew Bannister David Pine John Kelcher Martin Durrant |
Past members | Kat Tyrie Ross Burge |
Sneaky Feelings are a
Sneaky Feelings are unusual among Dunedin sound bands in that all four members of the band sing and write songs. The jangle sound of the guitars and layered vocals drew their influence from the music of the Byrds and the Beatles, and comparisons can be made with some of California's Paisley Underground bands.[3]
The band's name comes from a song by Elvis Costello, "Sneaky Feelings", which is on his first album My Aim Is True (1977).
History
Sneaky Feelings were one of four
After the demise of Sneaky Feelings in 1989, Bannister founded the
While Sneaky Feelings may have not played much over the years, the individual members have continued to hone their songwriting skills.[8] After a 29-year hiatus, the band released Progress Junction in 2017. It was recorded over two years in bass player John Kelcher's Christchurch studio, with each band member contributing three tracks. They experimented with weaving in snippets of audio from New Zealand radio archives and voices from the past started talking to the present.[9] Progress Junction received wide praise from critics at home, including the Sunday Star Times's Jack Barlow who dubbed it "a vibrant and fresh offering from one of New Zealand’s finest"[10] to William Dart (RNZ New Horizons ) who referred to the album as "the unexpected renaissance of one of my favourite bands of all time".[11] Nick Bollinger of RNZ wrote "David Pine and Matthew Bannister, who wrote the first and second song respectively, were always the chief songwriters in the Sneakies and as these opening tracks show, neither has lost their touch. These songs are melodic and poetic, and often employ humour even when the subject is serious." He continued "But they are not the only writers in the group. This band has always appeared to be that rare institution, a functioning democracy. All four members contribute songs, and in the past some of the best ones came from drummer Martin Durrant. It was his 'Strangers Again' that Bic Runga covered so beautifully on her rarities set Try To Remember Everything, and his 'You Never Know' is one of the standouts on this record. It could almost be some pre-rock’n’roll, Great American Songbook classic as interpreted by a 60s beat group. In a way it sums up the breadth of this band and the respect for the whole history and craft of popular song that has always come through in their music.[12]
Sneaky Feelings's latest LP is The Mercury Moment. It was released 17 April 2020 on Flying Nun Records and the quartet's Bandcamp page. They announced the forthcoming 12 song LP after a rare performance on Waitangi Day 2020. The Mercury Moment is a "...potent exploration of extinction, redundancy and disappointed dreams as the four songwriters cast their attention on the current state of the world."[13]
Reviewer Graham Reid commented that The Mercury Moment is "an album which deals with Big Picture issues and ideas (Heavenly Bodies which comes down from the stars to communicating online) and also drills down into the world we are given... which isn't the one we might have expected or wished for... And this was written before Covid-19."[14]
Discography
Date | Title | Label | Charted | Country | Catalog number | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albums | ||||||
1984 | Send You[15] | Flying Nun Records | - | Aotearoa / NZ | FEEL 1 | |
1987 | Sentimental Education | Flying Nun Records | - | Aotearoa / NZ | FEEL 6; FNE 14CD | |
1986 | Waiting for Touchdown (compilation) | Flying Nun Records | - | Aotearoa / NZ | FN ANDA62 | |
1988 | Hard Love Stories | Flying Nun Records | - | Aotearoa / NZ | FN112; FNE 26 CD | |
1999 | Positively George Street (compilation) | Flying Nun Records | - | Aotearoa / NZ | FNCD441 | |
2017 | Progress Junction[16] | Flying Nun Records | - | Aotearoa / NZ | FN579LP | |
2020 | The Mercury Moment[17] | Flying Nun Records | - | Aotearoa / NZ | FN592 | |
EPs | ||||||
1982 | Dunedin Double[18] | Flying Nun Records | - | - | FN DUN 1/2 |
Featured appearances
The group appeared on several compilations over the years in New Zealand. The following is a list of these albums that included tracks by Sneaky Feelings:
- (1987) - Tuatara: A Flying Nun Compilation (Flying Nun Records) - "Throwing Stones"
- (1988) - In Love With These Times (Flying Nun Records) - "Trouble With Kay"
- (2003) - Nature's Best 3 (Sony Music) - "Husband House"
Singles
Year | Single | Album | NZ Singles Chart | Label |
---|---|---|---|---|
1982 | "Be My Friend" | - | 31 | Flying Nun Records – FN015 |
1985 | "Husband House" | Take Sides | 16 | Flying Nun Records – FEEL 2 |
1986 | "Better Than Before" | - | 34 | Flying Nun Records – FEEL 3 |
1986 | "Coming True" | Sentimental Education | - | Flying Nun Records – FEEL 5 |
1987 | "Trouble With Kay" | Sentimental Education | - | Flying Nun Records – FEEL 7 |
1988 | "Long Time Gone" | Hard Love Stories | - | Flying Nun Records – FN119 |
Notes
- ^ "Sneaky Feelings - New Zealand Musicians & Bands". www.muzic.net.nz. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ "Sneaky Feelings - AudioCulture". www.audioculture.co.nz. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ "'I definitely had a chip on my shoulder': Matthew Bannister on the return of Sneaky Feelings". The Spinoff. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ "SNEAKY FEELING Progress Junction Flying Nun". Flying Nun Records. 2017.
- ^ "SNEAKY FEELINGS ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM 'THE MERCURY MOMENT'". Flying Nun Records. 17 February 2020.
- ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ "David Pine is New Zealand's new High Commissioner to India". The Indian News. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ "SNEAKY FEELINGS Progress Junction Flying Nun". Flying Nun Records. 2017.
- ^ "SNEAKY FEELINGS Progress Junction Flying Nun". Flying Nun Records. 2017.
- ^ "Listening Post: Queens of the Stone Age/Billie Eilish/Paul Kelly/Sneaky Feelings". Stuff. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ "SNEAKY FEELINGS ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM 'THE MERCURY MOMENT'". Flying Nun Records. 17 February 2020.
- ^ Bollinger, Nick (5 September 2017). "Progress Junction by Sneaky Feelings". RNZ The Sampler.
- ^ "The Mercury Moment". bandcamp. 17 April 2020.
- ^ "Sneaky Feelings: The Mercury Moment (Flying Nun/digital outlets)". Elsewhere by Graham Reid. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ released on CD with extra tracks in 1992
- ^ "SNEAKY FEELINGS – Progress Junction (CD) – Flying Out". Flying Nun Records. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
- ^ "SNEAKY FEELINGS The Mercury Moment Flying Nun". Flying Nun Records. 17 February 2020.
- The Stones and The Verlaines
External links
- Matthew Bannister's current band (Hamilton), The Changing Same
- Matthew Bannister's band in Auckland, The Weather
- Matthew Bannister's solo recordings as One Man Bannister
- Flying Nun Records page
- AudioCulture profile
- Sneaky Feelings' Bandcamp page
Further reading
- ISBN 0-7900-0704-5
- Davey, T. & Puschmann, H. (1996) Kiwi rock. Dunedin: Kiwi Rock Publications. ISBN 0-473-03718-1
- Dix, J. (1988) Stranded in paradise: New Zealand rock'n'roll 1955–1988. Wellington: Paradise Publications. ISBN 0-473-00639-1.
- Eggleton, D. (2003) Ready to fly: The story of New Zealand rock music. Nelson, NZ: Craig Potton Publishing. ISBN 1-877333-06-9