Album review: Aotearoa’s Ringlets unveil ‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies)’ – a spectacular post punk blast from the land of the long white cloud, with NZ tour announced.

Aotearoa/New Zealand’s fabulous  Ringlets have released their second album, endearingly entitled ‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time For Walkies)’ and it is a blast of thoroughly commendable sonic joy. Ringlets so epitomise the classic Dunedin sound it is kind of fitting they are on the legendary Flying Nun and Leather Jackets Records label: intelligent wry pop at its very best.

The band should win some sort award for their hilarious droll song titles: slightly absurdist and surreal and yet so mundane.

Opening track ‘Posh Girl Holds a Whip’ canters along with a jingle jangle guitar that is almost Middle Eastern in tone with the urgent disassociated vocals of Leith Towers, the lyrics laced with sardonic humour, before the track coasts into a dreamy fugue.

‘I Was on That Roof Once’ references the album’s title in the lyrics and is a jingle jangly delight: fey and wistful with gorgeous harmonies and a breezy delivery filled with a delightful whimsy and transcendent melodies.

Towers says of the track and the playfull video that accompanies it:

 ‘I Was on That Roof Once’ circles the drain of sincerity, belief, and our better natures gone a bit mouldy. The video features door dancing, a lost Irish tradition we’ve likely misremembered, pitched somewhere between ceremony and bluff. It’s a nod to ritual, balance, and the ways we try not to spill ourselves.

The video also features the band in performance – youthful and enigmatic:

‘Half An Idiot’ starts with a dappling acoustic guitars and measured pace – almost a twangy folksy feel with a more sensitive delivery before exploding like an atomic bomb into an excoriating thrash, illustrating the songwriting width and breadth of this band.

‘Street Massage’ dials up the tone a little – a little more angular and abrasive with urgent hectoring vocals and crystalline guitars that descend into fuzzy overdrive with wild chaotic roaring backing vocals.

The lyrics are excoriating and poignant – Leith Towers says of the track:

The song is about a low-wage masseur who plies his trade on the streets of Point Chevalier. It was originally about the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI), and the plight of a clinician in trying to encourage support workers to adhere to mealtime plans and feeding safety protocols. As the song evolved, it became a reflection on the broader struggles faced by low-wage workers in care roles. It highlights the emotional and physical toll of jobs that often go unnoticed and undervalued, despite the immense responsibility they demand. The masseur in the song is an allegory for the overlooked nurturers.

The accompanying video, directed by László Reynolds, is suitably enigmatic with various live performances and animation:

‘Rolling Blunts on the Dresden Codex’ has a restrained delivery with a soaring chorus and delicious harmonies and has a real genetic connection to fellow antipodeans like The Chills and The Apartments.

‘Heavenly Wheel’ is infused with an antipodean freshness and sparkle – a dappling chiming guitar and a certain dispassionate delivery laden with melodies and scaling choruses. There are certainly genetic threads tied to The Bats, The Chills and The Clean, but also stretching across the ditch to early The Go-Betweens and The Apartments, with a British C86/Postcards tinge too. The resultant sound however is all their own: a delicious melange of thunder and expression, hints of feedback and harmonics with a certain insouciance and attitude.

Vocalist Leith Towers says of the track: 

The song is about in-escapism—being trapped in the bed you’ve made for yourself. The video captures this concept through vignettes of endless and pointless tasks, ultimately suggesting that it’s not so bad when you’re in said bed together.

The video is a spectacular monochrome cinematic piece directed and produced by Joe Curtis and infused with a certain wry sense of humour:

‘Ancient Gays’ sparkles with an acousting blush which channels a little Belle and Sebastian while on ‘Sucking on a Surly Pout’, Arabella Poulsen takes over vocal duties with a dead-eyed delivery and an angular razor sharp edge to the music that could draw blood.

‘Hit The Frog’ has a fuzzy delivery and scorching sound with the breathless urgent vocals and pop sensibilities mixed with something more abrasive, ebbing and flowing.

Final track ‘This Year’s Hottest Movie’ with its motorik bass and kinky sounds and distorted vocals at the starting is surreal and psychedelic before moving into something more anthemic with its double dreamy vocals and jangling guitars.

‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time For Walkies)’ is a stunning creative force: droll, wry and angry all the same time, laced with a sprightly delivery – angular and raw at times – and yet assured and swaggering with a thousand yard stare and a raised eyebrow. It is an album of contrasts and contradictions yet viscerally exciting. Those New Zealanders: there may be something in the waters because they continually punch above their weight.

It is the band’s follow-up to their distinct eponymous debut in 2023. You can order it below.

The album was produced by Ringlets – Arabella Poulsen (bass & vocals), Arlo Grey (drums), László Reynolds (guitar & vocals) and Leith Towers (lead-vocalist) –  in Auckland at The Lab, alongside Michael Logie (The Mint Chicks) and mixed by Isaac Keating at Abbey Road Studios.

Ringlets have also announced a tour of Aotearoa in support of the new album – with shows in Ōhinehou, Ōtepoti, Te Whanganui-a-Tara and Tāmaki Makaurau this August. Tickets from ringlets.co.nz

Feature Photograph: Lola Fountain-Best