Dartz Sign To Flying Nun And Announce Debut Album ‘The Band From Wellington, New Zealand’

2 September 2022

The Wellington Sound has arrived, and it is Dartz. The Wellington party-punk foursome have recorded a collection of their fan favourite songs; their debut album appropriately titled The Band from Wellington, New Zealand. Their upcoming album is to be released digitally, on CD, and on standard black or limited edition ‘Lion Brown’ vinyl via Flying Nun Records on the 4th of November 2022.

The band have today shared the first track from the album, 40 Riddiford Street — a firm fan favourite recently re-recorded at Roundhead Studios. 40 Riddiford Street is a singalong anthem railing against the inherent injustices of New Zealand’s gruelling rental market. The single encapsulates the hellish living conditions of your typical beer-loving tenant. Featuring party-starting riffs and lyrics such as “an apple a day keeps the asbestos away” and “900 a week to live like we’re squatting”, this single is likely very relatable to the band’s fans new and old alike.

LISTEN TO 40 RIDDIFORD STREET HERE

Dartz are guitarist Crispy, bassist Clark Mathews, drummer Rollyz, and vocalist Danz. The four-piece, established in 2019 in New Zealand’s windy capital city, are a whirlwind of irrepressible personality who have quickly cemented themselves as one of Aotearoa’s fastest up-and-coming rock acts, having spent the past three years putting the foot to the pedal and building a diehard army of fans across the country.

After the award for Favourite Group at the inaugural NZ Student Radio Network Awards gave the Dartz boys two free days of recording time at Auckland’s Roundhead Studios, the ciggy-chomping crew made their way up the country in early 2022 to embark on a Lion Brown-fuelled weekend of recording that saw them re-record eight of their fans’ favourite Dartz hits, as well as lay down to tape two previously unrecorded songs that are similarly beloved by their live audience.

“It really was a bit too fancy for us,” says Dartz bassist and self-declared CEO Clark Mathews, on the subject of recording at Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studios. “On some level it just felt wrong to waltz into such a nice studio with our cheap beer and start playing songs about shitty Wellington flats and MDMA – but Steven [Marr, producer] was such a legend, he put so much care and time into everything from set-up to mixing, so we didn’t have to worry about anything apart from smashing Browns and smashing out these songs”.

PRE-SAVE / PRE-ORDER ALBUM HERE

The result of that weekend is The Band from Wellington, New Zealand: a 26-minute showcase of Dartz’ party-starting live energy; specifically recorded, mixed and mastered to deliver the elusive feeling and sound of experiencing the band in person. While many of the band’s previous recordings were whirlwind bedroom efforts that saw songs written and recorded within a matter of days if not hours, TBFWNZ is Dartz at the peak of their performative powers.

According to Dartz vocalist and luscious lyricist/illustrator Danz, “with this album, I feel like we’ve done right not only by the dedicated Dartz fans who we love so much and who deserve this quality, but also by the songs themselves – I truly believe that every single song performance on here is up there as the best we’ve ever done”.

Kicking off with an emphatic “tahi-rua-toru-wha” from Danz before launching into an array of Dartz anthems both new and old, the album wastes no time in showcasing the elements that make up Dartz’ recipe for success: high-energy and hook-heavy rock that demands to be played loud, with lyrics that seamlessly weave cutting social insights into relatable tales of youthful debauchery and substance (ab)use.

The Band from Wellington, New Zealand will be released on 4th November via Flying Nun Records, kicking off what one can only assume will be the greatest Kiwi summer in history, underscored by many a Lion Brown in the sun and a range of as-yet-unplanned Dartz hijinks and schemes. Now with the band’s fan favourite anthems pressed to vinyl, plans in place to take Dartz’ incendiary live show to overseas shores, and work underway on the boys’ next collection of party-starting tunes, there is not a single person alive that can deny the fact that Dartz is, without any single speck of doubt, the band from Wellington, New Zealand.