Album Review: The Puddle Playboys in the Bush

Dunedin band The Puddle. Photo / Supplied

Rating: 4.5/5

They've got Gin Wigmore doing the theme but it sounds like the makers of local Norse-gods-next-door series The Almighty Johnsons missed a trick by not using Valhalla from this, the umpteenth album, by The Puddle, the Otago-bred psych-pop outfit whose own history is shrouded in ancient myth.

The track about about what Thor, Odin, and his mates get up to in the wee small hours (think Iggy singing Beowulf) is the mad but gripping centrepiece of this set. It's an album that doesn't exactly part company with its makers' Dunedin roots of 25 years ago. But between the giddy energy of Rainbow Bridge Airlines near the front and the baroque touches of No Love No Hate at the end, this one shows the second wind that frontman George D Henderson's band have shown on their noughties albums is still blowing strong - and yes, it's a southerly. Might be time to sign up for that cult following. Which can also be done live tonight at the Dog's Bollix in Auckland.

-TimeOut