The Garbage & the Flowers - Cinnamon Sea LP

The release of any new songs by The Garbage & The Flowers should be an EVENT!

The enduring charm and intrigue of the band is in their economy with only a trickle of releases and dives into the tape archives over the last 30 odd years. The fact that people aren’t yelling from the rooftops about five new recently written/recorded tracks feels criminal to me. Top shelf quality over quantity!

On Cinnamon Sea, TG&TF are in rock band mode, with requisite 3rd album VU-chug, Byrdsy chime, swirling psychedelia, and folky melodies. Maybe maybe their most accessible release yet, with the layers of tape noise and screeching violin largely missing, instead foregrounding the lyrics and mandala-like song structures. One to slot in with their other classics (and the classics of the NZ underground)!

PS. Special shoutout to the track Red Star—a new Internationale from the avant-garde?

-Mitch