he year is 1995. I’ve recently waken up to the delight of localized music-video television with the advent of CRY TV here in Christchurch, New Zealand. Throughout the preceding months I had been discovering music by Jean-Paul Sartre Experience out-shoot Superette, rekindled my love for The Chills pop melodies, and finally developed a taste for local music, all at the age of 16.


News of the ‘Charge’ concert was building, a free gig in the town center featuring a number of New Zealand’s less conventional but talented bands performing for what was likely to be a large all ages crowd -- I had to go. If you’ve never heard or seen Superette -- they were a true force to be reckoned with, a three piece band built around Dave Mulcahy’s post-JPSE material which was both exceedingly catchy and yet dark and mysterious. They were the reason I was there (along with headliners and relative superstars Head Like a Hole) -- but the band that left me with the biggest impression were the 3Ds.


The 3Ds were one the prime examples of the 2nd coming of Flying Nun -- along with the Straitjacket Fitz and JPSE themselves. A real band’s band, as all four members contributed songs to their incredibly eclectic and prolific output. Dave Mitchell had a knack for creating dark and disturbing images, also reflective in their amazing poster and CD art, which he himself hand rendered. Dave Saunders and Denise Roughan were brilliant at creating melodic twin-vocal pieces, while Dominic Stones drove the band forward with his dynamic percussion and tendency for aggressive and chaotic songs.


The 3Ds are technically still a band, though they haven’t put out any material since 1997. Mitchell and Roughan have been attempting to raise interest in Europe, and that’s where Ghost Club got started -- as basically a Mitchell solo-piece, with Roughan and bass player Jim Abbott filling in on a couple of recorded tracks, and on live duties.


The album starts out with a rush of blood, and one of the highlights. The dramatic “Punch (your brother)” proudly displays Mitchell’s ‘Man on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown’ vocals and unleashes an invigorating rush of guitar fury in the traditional 3Ds style -- he certainly hasn’t lost his touch! As is common with Mitchell’s previous work, the lyrics show a dark and deceptive side, exemplified by “Precious Blood” -- Mitchell’s own interpretation of the nature of the human soul. He mixes disturbing visions of death and destruction, fear and precaution, with furious layers of guitar distortion and detached sing-shout vocals, creating an image of a man about to burst at the seams.


The secret to Mitchell distinct style is the way he propels the songs forward, an effective and deliberate disorder to the songs. Mitchell crafts songs that drag you in for various reasons-- you never know what’s going to happen next and whether or not the songs will collapse under their own weight. This is most effective on their more stop-start slower numbers (such as “Driver X”) and on their fast and aggressive tracks (such as the short instrumental “Howl of the Duck”).


The album ends with a poorly recorded, but driving, live number “Tiny Cuts” from a London gig in mid 2000. Mitchell’s guitar and Abbott’s bass work together as determined duo, unleashing fire and brimstone upon the crowd, while Roughan keeps everything together behind the kit. They sound like they’d be quite an experience live, as the 3Ds were back in my youth -- a sound that harks back to the Clean’s dynamic early performances.


I’m looking forward to hearing more from Ghost Club and any future 3D’s albums, as it appears neither Mitchell or Roughan have lost their ability to create great rock music -- as this excellent release so clearly demonstrates.