Straitjacket Fits
| Straitjacket Fits | |
|---|---|
Straitjacket Fits
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Genres | Rock, alternative rock, indie rock |
| Years active | 1986–1994 |
| Labels | Flying Nun, Rough Trade, Arista |
| Past members |
Shayne Carter John Collie David Wood Andrew Brough Mark Petersen |
Straitjacket Fits formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1986 and were a prominent band in the Flying Nun label's second wave of the Dunedin Sound.
Like many of their Flying Nun stable-mates, the band hailed from the southern city of Dunedin. They formed from the ashes of The DoubleHappys, a band comprising Shayne Carter, Wayne Elsey and John Collie. The tragic accidental death of Elsey saw Carter and Collie join forces with David Wood (ex-Working With Walt) in 1986 to form Straitjacket Fits. Andrew Brough (from The Orange) signed on the following year, adding a foil in the form of a pop sensibility to Carter's more raucous songwriting. From their inception, the sound of the band was marked by the seemingly incongruous but effective pairing of Carter's rough abrasive voice and strident guitar and Andrew Brough's saccharine-sweet vocals and pop hooks.
1987 marked the release of the band's first EP. Life in One Chord spent 10 weeks in the Top 50. Of the four songs, "She Speeds", was to become a hallmark song. It was later judged one of New Zealand's ten best popular songs to date. The edgy lead vocal (from Carter) was underpinned with a dynamic jagged guitar and stabs of strings which tumbled into a churning melodic chorus on which Brough's voice soared. The opposite approach was taken on "Sparkle That Shines", its gentle downbeat melody sung by Brough giving way to a chorus laced with Carter's knife-edge harmonies.
The band left Dunedin, briefly moving to Christchurch, before making the shift to the country's main marketplace, Auckland in 1988. Their first album Hail was produced by Terry Moore (a former member of The Chills) and was released later that year (it would later be re-released on CD, accompanied by the four songs from Life in One Chord). The band's first overseas venture, to Australia, came in 1989, followed soon by a tour of Europe.
In 1990 the band started work on their follow-up album Melt (produced by Gavin Mackillop), which was to produce moderate hits with the Brough composition "Down In Splendour" and Carter's "Bad Note For A Heart". The following year the band was back on the road with an extensive tour. Straitjacket Fits supported My Bloody Valentine in Australia and The La's in the United States. But the strain was beginning to show, with reputed "musical differences" between Carter and Brough. Brough left the band at the end of the tour, and was replaced by guitarist Mark Petersen.
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