The Androidss
Arrived in Auckland some time in 1979, drawn up from Christchurch by the jolt of energy their friends Toy Love had added to an already lively punk scene. There were a party as much as a band, a joyous celebration of good times & bad behaviour, eking out a handful of originals with an inspired lashing of covers to fill any dance floor
Auckland punk mined sixties pop, nuggety b-sides and early seventies glam to come up with a witty mix of knowing nihilism and deliberate stupidity. Art school and bogan coexisted. Bands like the Spelling Mistakes, Terroways and Proud Scum could generate the cartoon punk many of their fans desired but with a knowing wink
The South Island bands brought a different sound, an Antipodean strain of Velvet Underground infection. They made no attempt at fashion statements. There were still hippies where they came from, and if you din't like their clothes, the had no others, so stuff you poser.
Guitarist Mark Wilson who had taught most of his fellow band members the rudiments of their craft, had been in the Basket Cakes, aka the Detroit Haemmoroids, with Toy Love bassist Paul Kean. As Auckland punk was making its dark decent into the mayhem of the bootboy period, they presented as a self contained gang of their own. The dynamic was helping by having two sets of brothers, Steve & Eric Marsden and Mark and Neil Spence. The fact Steve and Eric were twins added another chemistry.