Straitjacket fits

Post-Eighties music was characterized by buzzsaw guitar pop AKA alternative rock. New Zealand's Straitjacket first were one of the pioneers of the style.

Guitarist, singer, songwriter and part-time newspaper columnist Shayne Carter formed Straitjacket Fits in Dunedin in 1987, after his two previous bands (Bored Games and The Doublehappys) failed to make an impact beyond New Zealand. For his new band Carter teamed up with David Wood on bass and drummer/artworker John Collie. Andrew Brough, formerly of the Orange joined soon after, offering another voice, guitar and pop songs of his own to add complement Carter's more raucous songwriting.

Their first release in '87 was a 4-song EP, 'Life In One Chord', containing the song 'She Speeds', which spent 10 weeks in the NZ Top 50. Australian music weekly On The Street said it was "arguably the greatest debut single of all time". When London music mag Melody maker heard it a year later they said it was "as necessary as dreaming".

Straitjacket Fits in the meantime had left Dunedin to base themselves in Auckland. Over a three month period in 1988 they recorded their first album, 'Hail', working for a second time with the engineering and production talents of former Chill, Terry Moore. 'Hail's ten songs included seven from Carter, two from Brough, and a blistering cover of Leonard Cohen's 'So Long Marianne'. There was some conflict between producer and band about what the record should sound like. 'Hail' did not match the intensity and fire of their performances on stage.

In 1989 Straitjacket Fits headed for Australia for the first time, and when 'Life In One Chord' finally hit the UK and found a release in Europe and the US later that year, they travelled even further afield, including a couple of shows in New York.

The group returned to New Zealand in 1990 to begin work on the album 'Melt' (another one word title) with Scottish producer, Gavin Mackillop who had worked with Shriekback and PIL. 'Melt' was recorded and mixed in nine weeks in Auckland and Melbourne, Australia. On the strength of that album Arista Records picked up the Fits for a six-album deal in the US and preceded the release of 'Melt' with a single release of 'Down In Splendour', one of three Andrew Brough tracks on the album. Again the only people to voice any disappointment with the record was the band itself.

The 1991 the US tour which followed the release of 'Melt' consolidated Straitjacket Fits' reputation and growing international fan-base. It also saw tensions between Andrew and the rest of the group reaching crisis point. Citing musical and personal differences he left the Straitjacket Fits soon after their return to New Zealand. The group brought in longtime friend, Auckland guitarist Mark Petersen and the band continued through 1991 and 1992 with regular New Zealand tours and a brief Australian jaunt with the UK's My Bloody Valentine.

In mid-'92 they took four of Shayne Carter's new songs to a studio in Melbourne where, working with long-time Nick Cave engineer Tony Cohen, the Straitjacket Fits delivered the 'Done' EP, taking more of a guitar-oriented direction, closer to the band's sound on stage. They followed that EP with a trip to California, where over three months in late '92/ early '93, the Straitjacket Fits pieced together what's considered the finest recorded work of their career, the album 'Blow', recorded at American Recording Studios with producer Paul Fox who had worked with 10,000 Maniacs and the Sugarcubes. Compared to the previous three albums, Andrew Brough's absence was obvious. 'Blow' was raunchy, guitar-driven rock and followed on in style from the 'Done' EP, and recorded live to give the band the raw sound they had been wanting so long. They considered calling the album 'Unafraid Of Pop (And Rock), but opted to continue the one-word four-letter tradition they'd established with previous releases.

Despite chart success at home in New Zealand and a positive reaction to 'Blow' internationally, following the European tour in late-93 with JPS Experience Straitjacket Fits amicably called it quits. Shayne Carter ended up in the group Dimmer, while former member and songwriter Andrew Brough moved on to Bike.