Eyes Rind as If Beggars

This remarkably obscure group from Wellington, New Zealand met as teens in the late '80s and worked on the band throughout the early '90s, producing a scattered discography over the next few years. Meshing the whispery, inward-looking pop of other New Zealand indie outfits of their day, like the Chills or the Bats with far more caustic, noisy freakouts, the band arrived at a unique sound that could be either delicate or demonic by turns. Eyes Rind as If Beggars collects the majority of known TGATF recordings, including a fair amount of extremely raw live recordings as well as studio-quality material. Tracks like the blistering live version of "Nothing Going Down" show the band in full noise mode, with absolutely toxic violin lines bringing to mind John Cale's early explorations with the Velvet Underground or the tension-filled Odyshape days of the Raincoats. ~ Fred Thomas