The Clean

The Clean were an influential first-wave punk band that formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1978. Led through a number of rotating line-ups by brothers Hamish and David Kilgour, the band (usually a trio), forged a distinctive and quirky sound that relied heavily on organ melodies and simple, Ramones-style chord progressions.

In 1981, a fan of the Clean founded the Flying Nun label to release their first single, "Tally Ho." A follow-up track off one of their early EPs, "Beatnik", also achieved success, as did the second single, "Getting Older".

The Flying Nun label went on to be New Zealand's biggest independent record company, championing the Dunedin Sound, a loosely-connected style of music largely produced by bands from this southern city. Others on the label included The Chills, The Verlaines, The Bats, and Sneaky Feelings. The line-ups of these bands were often interrelated, with Clean alumni David Kilgour and Peter Gutteridge both having been in the Chills, and another Clean member Robert Scott being the founder of The Bats.

During much of the 1980s, the Clean were officially split up, and during this time the Kilgour Brothers worked together on an experimental album and ep using the deliberately punning name of "The Great Unwashed" – the album was similarly punningly titled "Clean Out Of Our Minds". Reforming in the late 1980s, the band found a slightly poppier vein of music while retaining their experimental edge.

Although they released several chart-topping songs in their native country, the Clean are a cult band in the rest of the world. However, their influence is surprisingly far-reaching. They became a staple of college radio in the 1980s. Stephen Malkmus of Pavement cites the Clean as a major influence, and the band's droney 80s output is a direct forerunner of Yo La Tengo. Other bands, such as Camper Van Beethoven have a sound that seems heavily influenced by the Clean.

The Clean continue to produce music, and Flying Nun recently issued a comprehensive collection of their previously hard-to-find singles. The most consistent line-up of the band comprises the Kilgour brothers and bassist Robert Scott. Output from the band has been sporadic over the years, with all group members involved in other projects and Hamish Kilgour now living in New York. Other projects involving members of the band include The Bats and The Magick Heads (Scott), Stephen (Hamish Kilgour), and The Mad Scene and The Heavy Eights (David Kilgour).

Discography of Albums and EPs

• Boodle Boodle Boodle (Flying Nun EP, 1981)
• Great Sounds Great, Good Sounds Good, So-so Sounds So-so, Bad Sounds Bad, Rotten Sounds Rotten (Flying Nun EP, 1982)
• Oddities (Flying Nun, 1982)
• Live Dead Clean (Flying Nun EP, 1986)
• Compilation (Flying Nun, 1987)
• In a Live (Flying Nun EP, 1990)
• Vehicle (Flying Nun, 1990)
• Modern Rock (Flying Nun, 1994)
• Unknown Country (Flying Nun, 1996)
• Getaway (Flying Nun, 2001)
• Slush Fund (Arc, 2001)
• Anthology (Flying Nun, 2002)
• Syd's Pink Wiring System: Live in New Zealand 2000 (Cleano, 2003)