Now, after nearly two decades, 1986 debut album - A Cuppa Tea and a Lie Down is available again!
The deluxe re-issue has been re-mastered and expanded to include their first EP The Tired Sun (complete with pull out replica sleeve), three bonus tracks plus liner notes from songwriter Graeme Humphreys all housed in a gatefold set.
Initially hailing from Whangarei, one of New Zealand's northernmost cities, the band released four albums and two EPs between 1985-1993, all filled with their own brand of sweet and crafty baroque pop. Plus they may be the only NZ band's to tastefully incorporate bagpipes into a song.
Named after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman (who arrived in New Zealand in 1642), the band themselves were avid explorers limited only by their imagination. Their song writing and arrangement crossed lines between baroque and indie pop, integrating field recordings and bringing keyboards to the forefront of their music.
Track List:- Inside The Modern
- What Was That Thing
- Little Hearts
- And Relax
- Rainbow
- I See Now Where
- And We Swam The Magic Bay
- Fa Fa Fa Fa
- Sour Queen
- New Sherriff
- Virtues Asunder
- Evil Barbeque
- Patrick's Mother *
- Rain In Tulsa *
- Tom Song *
- Snow White Chook *
- Rhyme For Orange *
- Carolines ^
- Buffalos #
- Michaels #
* Taken from The Tired Sun EP (FN043, 1985)
^ Originally appeared on the Outnumbered By Sheep compilation (BFM001, 1986)
# Taken from a cassette recording and originally appeared on Able Tasmans - Songs From The Departure Lounge (FNCD404, 1998).
