Salad Boys

Emerging from Christchurch’s thriving indie-pop scene in New Zealand, the fuzzy guitar-pop trio Salad Boys channel the spirit of the city’s storied Flying Nun era. Singer-guitarist Joe Sampson, bassist Ben Odering, and drummer Jim Nothing (also known as James Sullivan)—three longtime friends who had previously played in various local groups—launched the band in 2012 and quickly gained traction. The group’s name originated from a misheard lyric in a Feelies track, and after serving as backing musicians for New Zealand icon David Kilgour of the Clean, Salad Boys incorporated the low-key jangle and melodic focus associated with both acts. Their self-released 2013 mini-album generated enough interest beyond Oceania to draw global notice, leading to a deal with Chicago’s Trouble in Mind Records. The band’s first full-length effort, Metalmania, appeared worldwide in September 2015. Following extensive live dates that included a U.S. trek, Sampson came back to Christchurch to start work on the follow-up. Between June 2016 and June 2017 he and Sullivan tracked the album at a local rehearsal room, resulting in This Is Glue, a more distorted version of the jangle-pop approach heard on the debut. Trouble in Mind issued the record in early 2018, coinciding with the start of a New Zealand tour by the revised lineup of Ben Dodd on bass and Ben Woods on drums.