Biography
New Zealand's garage rock scene flourished throughout the 1960s, yet the nation truly asserted its identity during the post-punk years. At the center of that development stood brothers Graeme and Peter Jefferies. They joined forces in the early Flying Nun act This Kind of Punishment while also working apart—Peter on solo releases and Graeme through the Cakekitchen—generating some of the era’s most demanding and satisfying recordings. Their first notable group, Nocturnal Projections, operated from 1981 to 1983. Taking cues from the somber, expansive sounds then emerging in Britain from Joy Division and Wire, the quartet fashioned a lo-fi, scrappy counterpart that initially drew little attention but later influenced numerous New Zealand bands. Although the siblings had already played in several earlier projects, they assembled the right lineup in 1981 when bassist Brett Jones and drummer Gordon Rutherford joined Peter’s vocals and Graeme’s guitar. In their hometown of New Plymouth the band’s raw, energetic style quickly built a following, earning a residency at The Lion Tavern where the four musicians sharpened their aggressive attack and tightly written material. Those rehearsals were preserved on two early demo cassettes, Things That Go Bunt in the Night and Emission Recordings. The group soon outgrew the provincial city and relocated to Auckland, where it became a regular opener for visiting acts including the Fall and New Order. Studio sessions followed, producing a self-released 7" single in April 1982 and the five-song 12" EP Another Year on the Hit Single label later that year. An additional three-song self-titled EP was recorded in early 1983 and released after the band had already disbanded. The Jefferies brothers immediately regrouped with Rutherford on drums and Andrew Frengley on bass to form This Kind of Punishment. Although Nocturnal Projections lasted only briefly, its catalog proved durable. Songs later surfaced on compilations such as “Words Fail Me” on 1986’s Biding Our Time and “Walk in a Straight Line” on 1990’s Xpressway Pile-Up. In 1995 the U.K. label Raffmond gathered singles, live tracks, and rarities on the collection Nerve Ends in Power Lines. Selections from the 1981 demos also appeared on New Zealand punk anthologies including Hate Your Neighbours in 1997 and Move to Riot in 2002. Dais Records issued Complete Studio Recordings in April 2018, compiling every studio single, along with Inmates in Images, which collected live recordings made between 1981 and 1983.
Albums
