Chris Knox is often referred to as the godfather of New Zealand pop, and that's as good a description as any (though perhaps "strange uncle" is more appropriate). For more than 30 years Knox has made quirky, catchy pop music, first fronting the Enemy, then as part of Toy Love, and later as a solo artist and member of the duo Tall Dwarfs with Alex Bathgate.

By the mid-1990s, what Knox had been doing all along was in vogue. His one-man-band reliance on odd instruments like the omnichord and his prevalent use of drum machines and home recording techniques fit well with the lo-fi movement that kept indie tastemakers busy. That all came to a head with Songs of You and Me, one of his best -- and best-distributed -- albums.

The disc is divided into two halves, almost like a double album. The first, the songs about "you," is subtitled "Hanging Out for Time to Cure Birth," while the songs about "me" are found on the latter half, titled "A Stranger's Iron Shore." Other than lyrical focus, there is no real difference. All of the songs are built on either Knox's heavily distorted guitar or his omnichord, with drum machine backing and little else. That's enough, however, as the real hook is in Knox's lyrics and melodies.

Over the course of 21 tracks, he offers barely tempered rage "Song to Welcome the Onset of Maturity"), jangly pop ("Half Man/Half Mole") and soaring ballads ("One Fell Swoop"). It's an impressive range given instrumental limits he places on his work.

In an interesting piece written for New Zealand Listener about his most enduring song, "Not Given Lightly," (most easily found on the U.S. release Meat) Knox damns himself with faint praise. Discussing a "best New Zealand songs" list, on which the track charted at no. 13, he writes that it "demonstrated the dubious advantages of producing only one 'hit,' whereas fans of the Finns and Dave Dobbyn had so many to choose from that their votes were split."

He may have only written one minor hit, but Knox's back catalog is full of twisted gems, and Songs of You and Me contains more than its fair share of them.

MP3: Half Man/Half Mole
MP3: One Fell Swoop

Next week: Mark Hollis - s/t

Labels: music, OOTS