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Just as we had left Christchurch we heard that there'd been another big earthquake back home. I sent a text to my mother and father saying 'how was the earthquake?' The only indication I had of the scope of the damage was that it was '6.1'. News websites were down and Twitter only had apocryphal claims that 'the cathedral [was] down' and blurry phone-camera photos of dust and smoke in the air. I was at work, in an office. I just wanted to know if my parents were all right. That seemed all that mattered.

Lucy and I have been fortunate enough to not have anyone we were close to die in the February 22 earthquake, but some of our friends haven't been able to say this. It seems that a lot of people have lost their homes and businesses. The apartments--a converted Gothic 19th Century school--where my parents lived and where we recorded most of Skin to Soil and Glory Glory have suffered pretty extensive damage, was red-stickered, and face an uncertain future. Lucy and I are safe for now in Wellington sitting on the Southern fault line. Until then we walk to work and University past beautiful towers looking increasingly ephemeral.

Richard from Rose Quartz made a Christchurch-earthquake fundraiser compilation which features some sweet Christchurch bands and other cool bands who have played in Christchurch. You can donate to Red Cross here, and then (once you've made a generous donation), download the compilation here. We've contributed the first song, 'Feeeel It', from our upcoming album, Glory Glory. (It's all done, it's just getting mastered now!) It's a nice mix, including Shocking Pinks, Grouper, and our friends Canterbury Rams, Mount Pleasant, and With Moths.

News x4

CALH 2011: Thanks Blink and everyone who helped make Campus A Low Hum 2011. Reviews here and here.

Album: All songs are recorded. We just need to add bass to 'Last Day of Summer'. If anyone in Wellington wants to lend us a bass for a few days that would be sweet ^_^ Mixing continues...

Show: Playing on Monday night at Happy on March 7 supporting The Ocean Floor and City Oh Sigh. Hopefully  the show will start and end early so that people can safely go to work or university on Tuesday morning.

Tapes: Skin to Soil has sold out online, but there are seven copies left which we'll sell at the show. Once these are gone, they will be gone. I think it would be disingenuous/reflect poorly on Wet Wings if we were to produce more tapes as they were promoted as 'limited edition', so we won't.

End of Year Lists

We've been included in a few end-of-year lists:

Gorilla vs. Bear's Songs of 2010

Salient Top 5 (NZ) Songs
RDU's The Sheep Technique Top NZ Releases of the Year

Radiated Sounds Top Songs and Albums of 2010

We're going to Melbourne

Good day. We're visiting in Melbourne in January 2011. We're privileged to play three shows with some great bands. These are the shows:

1. Thursday January 13th, Bar Open with Otouto and Pikelet, free

This is the poster (thanks a lot to W. Duignan) [too late to change Pikelet's replacing The Ancients] :

This is Otouto:

2. Friday 14th January, The Workers Club with Tiger Choir (TAS), The Parking Lot Experiments and Tantrums, $10

This is The Parking Lot Experiments:

3. Saturday 15th January, The Toff in Town supporting Mountain Man (US). Buy tickets here

This is Mountain Man:

After watching Adventureland, we're pretty keen to hit Lunar Park. Send us an email (wetwingswetwings at gmail) if there's anything else we should check out/if you want to hang.

Christchurch Summer Shows

Wet Wings will play two Christchurch shows this summer:

1. El Santo Porteno, Friday December 3rd, $5

Poster design thanks to William Duignan who, as well as a talented designer, is Boy Scout

Wet Wings will play a new set as a two-piece using a viola and vocal loops, keyboard and guitar.

Canterbury Rams will play as a three-piece rock band featuring Sam Ellis (Jimmy Zoom & the Beytown Grifters), Jonathan Phillips (Mount Pleasant), and Darryl Something (Mustard).

Boy Scout is like Nate Dogg/Paul Simon/Final Fantasy/Bon Iver/The Christchurch Cathedral Choir.

2. The Dux de Lux, Friday December 10th

Wet Wings will play as a four-piece band with Sebastian Warne (The Unfaithful Ways, Bibi Anderson) on bass and Matthew Scobie (Black Market Art, The Undercurrents, Valdera, The O'Lovelys, Woolston Brass Band, T54, Mmdelai) on drums.

When I emailed to book this show I was told that our band wasn't rockin' enough. So we asked Magic Eye to play as well. Magic Eye are certainly rockin' and, furthermore, will also bring the party.

We're also playing a low-key daytime set at the Arts Centre on Saturday December 4 from 12pm to 1.

Our cassette will be on sale at both these concerts for $12.

These will probably be our last Christchurch shows for a while.

Skin to Soil reception

Since releasing our tape last month some people have said nice and sometimes (via Google Translate) unintentionally humorous things:

Here are two beautifully misty/haunting tracks from the tape, “the diary of two young people who have heard mortality rattling.”

Gorilla vs. Bear/Altered Zones

Weird poem of my childhood, secrets and loneliness. An unbelievable choir is telling me about that immense nature, from New Zealand, morphing suddenly into a dove or a she-wolf. Skin To Soil is covering us with charmful strokes. Unforgettable strokes.

Delicious Scopitone (bizarrely translated from French)

Mirage perfume transported sand and covered with royal blue like the intense summer nights. Wet Wings - duet from New Zealand - made with all the satellites of sweetness.

MagicRPM (again poorly translated from French)

So. This is maybe a conflict of interest. Darian Woods is one half of this Christchurch duo and he is also a friend of mine. I don't think it matters though, as the quality of this release sort of transcends friendships and things like that. This is so good that you could be listening to it, and your least favourite person could also be listening too it, and you'd both admit that you like it and probably bond or something.

In Unison

They have kind of a New Order vibe, but if New Order liked to hang out at the beach a lot and they might have been hippies. I swear, these are compliments.

Kitsune Noir

“Sleep Tight” is a real achievement in gothic folk. The song writhes with utter devastation, plunking along sparsely before being joined with an equally as distraught cello—a truly inspired piece.

Death + Taxes

Their moody, dream pop effect is perfect for late night cuddling.

Modern Mystery

It sounds like sunshine on the back of your neck when you're sitting alone on a beach watching waves.

The Press

When you come across bands from New Zealand, you automatically expect to have some sort of knifing guitar line, but that’s not the case at all with Wet Wings. The group has a much quieter approach to writing their music, as if they’re high upon some cliff, watching as the waves slowly crash upon the shore.

Austin Town Hall

It’s all about the rise and swell. One sound joins another, then falls off before another eases into its voided space. It’s a beautiful record.

Their Bated Breath

More: Boom Boom Chik, Pop Dines With Portman, Sick Off the Radio

So the Skin to Soil tapes are disappearing fast. Literally vanishing. I put one on my bookshelf and now it's gone. That's how hot the demand is right now. We'll have a few left for our shows but at the rate the cassettes are being ordered we should be sold out by the end of the year.

Visit Infinity Tapes to buy.

All orders come with an emailed instant download code.

RNZ Interview

David Klein interviewed us for Radio New Zealand National's Music 101. Listen here.

Selected transcript:

D: Our new direction could go in two ways: either more pastoral with more viola and ... real instruments, or the opposite, with backing tracks and choreography.

L: Um. No, not going to happen.