KEY POINTS:
A band who were true indie rock pioneers are the winners of the second New Zealand Herald Legacy Award.
Straitjacket Fits, who formed in Dunedin in 1986, will be honoured at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards at Vector Arena on October 8.
The Flying Nun band, led by singer/songwriter Shayne Carter, were a shining light on the local music scene in the late 80s and early 90s, during which time they released three albums including debut Hail and follow up Melt.
From their Dunedin sound beginnings they went on to redefine guitar music in New Zealand with sonic rock hits like She Speeds and Down In Splendour.
They played their last show at the 1994 Big Day Out but briefly reformed in 2005 - without the band's other songwriter Andrew Brough - for a series of shows.
As well as winning the legacy award, Straitjacket Fits will also be inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame along with last year's inductees Johnny Devlin and Jordan Luck, and another act to be announced at next week's Apra Silver Scrolls.
Music awards boss Campbell Smith says "New Zealand has a fine history of powerful and melodic guitar bands."
"Straitjacket Fits was, and is, one of the best."
