Choice Kiwi Cuts 2020: The Leers - Nightcall

I'm going to take the "cover" route for this one … but what a cover. A decade ago French retro/electro/synthwave dude Kavinsky - also see Daft Punk, Lovefoxxx - released a single that featured on the movie Drive called ‘Nightcall’. All vocoder and gleaming synthpop goodness, it quickly took on a life of its own and became firmly established as a post-millennium classic of its genre, much-loved and all but untouchable … so you’d think it would be something of a risk for a psych-pop band from Aotearoa to take it on and put their own spin on it, right? Step forward The Leers, who did exactly that, including it as the closer on the recent The Only Way Out Is In release. The band breathe new life into the tune, dressing it up in entirely new threads, and I think Matt Bidois’ emotive vocal take is exceptional. Strictly pop.

 

The Only Way Out Is In

It’s been a year or so since I last contributed anything tangible to NZ Musician magazine (new print issue in circulation this week or next, folks) but when the chance to talk to a couple of guys from Mount Maunganui/Auckland psych-pop band The Leers presented itself a few weeks back, I couldn’t resist. The band’s debut album (of 2016) was a firm favourite of mine and news of a follow-up, not to mention a run of upcoming summer festival shows, was all the angle I needed. It was an easy chat, with a fair bit of humour, but the truth is, The Leers are deadly serious about their craft.

Recorded in Los Angeles in late 2019, the latest release is called The Only Way Out Is In (Spotify playlist embedded within the link below) and although it’s a relatively lengthy eight tracks, they were pretty insistent on calling it an EP rather an album. It takes the band’s sound firmly into the “pop” realm, a move away from the psych-rock flavour of the debut, but it’s polished, very well produced, and I can see a lot of this new material going down a storm during the series of live shows the band are about to undertake. Also, make sure you check out the new-threads cover of the Kavinsky electro classic ‘Nightcall’ which closes the EP, and is already a firm favourite of mine. 

My feature on The Leers is here.