Bill Direen / Builders - Cut

Bill Direen has been described as “kind of a kiwi Alex Chilton” (Mike Ric), a “barbed intellect” (Chris Knox), “a student of quirky pop topography” and an “insightful muso of words, tones, texture and attitude” (Fred Mills, The BOB). In 1994, he had been working up new material at clubs and theatres with drummer Derek Champion. Peter Jefferies (talent scout for the label imd) brought them to Dunedin and set up recording with Brendan Hoffman. Alastair Galbraith, Stephen Kilroy, Kiri Winders (My Deviant Daughter) and Rob Thorne dropped by to add their genre of Dunedin brilliance to the Direen/Champion grooves, while Peter Gutteridge gave advice on how to drive items from his collection of keyboards. Hoffman also integrated five home recordings plus a high tension live recording serendipitously recorded by kiwi soundman Terry King (R.I.P. 2017), when saxophonist Steve Wolf and reed emulator Victoria Singh guested. When CMJ called it “perhaps Direen’s finest work yet”, Bill and Derek took off for a whistle stop tour of the USA.
CRITICAL RESPONSE TO CUT
“Electric celeste, garage fuzz, carousel organ, zonked-out flute, surf riffs or Thinking Fellas guitar, cutting through a tune like a butcher's cleaver.” (Jud Cost, MAGNET).

“Bizarre juxtapositions of reality and nightmare gives off a sense of lucid, unrelenting hallucination”. “A mix of jerky intensity and perverse wordplay with more traditional pop timing and musicianship”. “In Fashion, cogent social observations are wedded to jagged riffs of crawling, grungy blues and vocals rendered in a dirty growl. Worry, a glacial swirl of delicate, reedy keyboard lines and the fragile piping of a tin whistle offer the palatial, deceptively romantic setting for a story of amorous neglect and loveless sex. Most interestingly, on Poke (a revved-up pop song reminiscent of the Rascals’ Good Love), conventional rock instrumentation is supplemented by a fuzz-pedalled guitar that buzzes away like a dull bit burrowing into steel.” (Phil Pegg, PUNCTURE).

“While Cut, perhaps Direen's finest work yet, is adventurous with structure, instrumental textures and weird-voiced over-dubbed harmony, there are simply terrific songs at the core. Direen is a sharp-witted and skilled writer of crafty and finely-crafted songs on a par with masters like Chris Knox and Mayo Thompson.” (David Newgarden, CMJ)

“Eclectic, endearing pop ditties that get under your skin.” (Fred Mills, OPTION).