AA. VV.
AK●79

Months ago, someone gifted me two records, useful – according to them – to get acquainted with the Australian and New Zealand scene between the '70s and '80s.

The punk scene, I mean.

Even though one shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, I confess that at first, I was a bit puzzled and put on a brave face.

I barely know where Australia and, especially, New Zealand are, even though I have an innate fondness for kangaroos and eat a lot of kiwis.

In short, I consider them the outskirts of the world.

Could there really have been a scene in Australia and New Zealand?

I pulled "Punk!" by Federico Guglielmi off the shelf, leafed through the index and – surprise – there was indeed a scene in Australia and New Zealand.

Relegated to the end of the book, 12 pages out of a total of 266, but still there.

And it was extremely inventive: suggestions then carried out with good, sometimes excellent, results.

In short, there were Radio Birdman and the Saints but also so much more.

The CD anthology on the Australian scene has already been reviewed, so I’m writing a few lines on the one dedicated to the New Zealand scene.

"AK●79" was originally released in 1979 and recently reissued for its fortieth anniversary, even expanded to 25 tracks, compared to the original 12.

New Zealand didn’t give birth to extraordinary bands like Radio Birdman and the Saints but to a plethora of small bands whose fame rarely crossed local borders.

In other words, drawing a parallel between sports and music, there were stars and midfielders in Australia, only midfielders in New Zealand.

However, midfielders, in their own way, are fundamental and perhaps even more than stars, they capture the hearts of enthusiasts.

In mine, for the past few months, Scavengers and Terrorways, Proud Scum and Primmers, Swingers and Suburban Reptiles, Spelling Mistakes and Marching Girls have struck a chord, along with personal anthems like "Mysterex" and "Never Been to Borstal", "Suicide" and "You're Gonna Get Done" (but it seems this one really is an anthem in New Zealand), "Baby" and "Saturday Night Stay at Home", "Feel So Good" and "First in Line".

A slew of bands that often didn't survive beyond the release of a few 45s, united by the desire to create and a lack of resources, a chaos of sounds from power-pop to punk to wave.

Disc jockey Brian Staff had equal enthusiasm, founded Ripper Records and recorded those signs of life in "AK●79".

After 40 years, "AK●79" is in my hands.

I have learned something, like where New Zealand is, for example.

And when I eat a kiwi, I do it with greater awareness than yesterday, having also learned that the fruit gets its name from the bird symbol of New Zealand.