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The Naked and Famous :: This Machine EP


New Zealand bands--you can't get much more indie than that.


Powering through the newly released EP by New Zealand indie power-pop duo The Naked and Famous is like being the star of your own action movie. Or at least the part of the movie where you're either a.) battling an army of zombie ninjas, b.) driving a rocket car down 4th street in the middle of the afternoon, or c.) driving a rocket car through an army of zombies who are waiting for the bus on 4th street at 2:30pm . . . Okay, it got out of hand there but that's because I'm listening to the aforementioned EP, This Machine, and I simply can't keep up. Although it's heading into winter down under, you'd think they wrote the album just for our northern hemisphere summer.


This Machine is fast; it's poppy; it's perfect for right now--and frankly, that's all it has to be. My only complaint is that it always seems to end too quickly. Since releasing the EP in May, they've also received very good local press from the likes of Undertheradar and that purveyor of prose, Grant Smithies, who is quite possibly one of the best music critics working today, IMHO.


Check out their MySpace page for three of the six EP tracks. And, of course, if you happen to be in Auckland around 31 May, check them out. Big thanks to Big Nick for the hi-ho.


Recommended if you like: plowing through zombie ninjas in a rocket car. Or dancing.

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