Classic Album Review: Strawpeople - The Best Of 1990 > 2000 (2000)

I read something on social media very recently, possibly a post from Fiona McDonald, which suggested that local act Strawpeople were back in the groove. Back in the studio and on the verge of releasing new work. I really can’t be sure of the details, but it may be timely to reflect on Strawpeople’s musical legacy, in anticipation of more to come, and perhaps the best way to do that is to take a look at the collection which showcased their very best work.

Strawpeople - initially a partnership between Auckland-based DJ friends Paul Casserly and Mark Tierney - were one of New Zealand’s most commercially successful pop acts of the Nineties, and this compilation album features virtually all of the band’s biggest hits, albeit “hits” specific to the NZ charts. And when I say “band”, I really mean Casserly (mostly) and Tierney (up until 1996), along with vocalist Fiona McDonald (occasionally). Plus, whomever else they decided to work with on any given album; to say that studio line-up changes were frequent over the course of roughly half a dozen albums throughout the decade would be no exaggeration. 

Strawpeople did two things very well. The first was to produce a distinctly Kiwi blend of electronica and pop (which has dated just a little, admittedly) using an assortment of (primarily) women vocalists. The second was to take material from other artists and turn it into their own – see covers of The Church’s ‘Under The Milky Way’, John Hiatt’s ‘Have a Little Faith’, and to a less successful extent, The Cars’ ‘Drive’. And of course there was also ‘One Good Reason’, a lesser known track from local new wave stalwarts The Swingers, which provided the breakthrough hit for Strawpeople. All of those tracks feature on Best Of. 

The most well known Strawpeople album is probably 1994’s Broadcast, which spent a whole year on the NZ album charts - reaching No.3 - and it featured the aforementioned core trio of Casserly, Tierney, and McDonald. Broadcast therefore represents Strawpeople at something of a career peak, but in truth, the casual fan or the merely curious might be better served by picking up a copy of this compilation which basically gives you all you’ll need without any hint of filler. 

Best tracks: ‘Love Explodes’, ‘Dreamchild’, ‘Trick With A Knife’, ‘Sweet Disorder’, and ‘Taller Than God’.