Anthology

iTunes Review

Simplicity and modesty were the watchwords for this unassuming, quietly brilliant New Zealand band who, while no one was looking, refashioned the face of guitar pop with a series of life-affirming, - produced singles in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The Clean were untutored New Zealand schoolboys who recklessly embraced punk’s do-it-yourself ethos, carelessly crafting a brace of classic tunes in the mold of their heroes the Kinks, the Easybeats, and the Velvet Underground. Their unerring instinct for jagged pop hooks and relentlessly hummable organ riffs served them well on the witty, irreverent tunes collected on Anthology, from the sly put-down of “Beatnik” to the wide-eyed sincerity of “Anything Could Happen”. The Clean single handedly invented a scruffy, lo-fi aesthetic that would influence countless bands, from the Chills to Apples In Stereo, yet none of their many disciples were able to recapture the thrilling sincerity and reckless sense of possibility that made the Clean so captivating as they crafted songs as guileless and perfect as “Tally Ho.”