Man on The Verge of A Nervous Breakdown - by Roger Shepherd — Flying Nun + Related

The Able Tasmans debut release, The Tired Sun 12” was considered a bit of an oddity at the time with its keyboard led quirky full sound. And with the term “oddity” comes the unspoken implication that this is a one-off novelty.

The12” EP New is one of the best pure post-punk records to be released in New Zealand. Songs such as ‘South’, ‘New’, ‘Jungles’ and ‘Cha Cha’ are political, intellectual, nervy, rhythmic and brittle.   Of the bands to appear on the **** (Four Stars) album released in late 1980, Naked Spots Dance sound the best and lasted the longest.

Man On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown is a blog written by Roger Shepherd, founder of Flying Nun Records. Recounting tales from the early days. Updated weekly.  

There were comings and goings of band members in Pell Mell’s 17-year life span from their 1980 inception in pre hipster Portland, Oregon. The Pell Mell guys were regular unassuming but friendly types who just liked playing their music and occasionally making records and for whom any sort of audience was an astonishing bonus. A new breed.