Sneaky Feelings

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Sneaky Feelings
Sneaky Feelings in 1982, as depicted on the Dunedin Double EP. Back: Kat Tyrie; Front, left to right: Matthew Bannister, David Pine, Martin Durrant.
Sneaky Feelings in 1982, as depicted on the Dunedin Double EP. Back: Kat Tyrie; Front, left to right: Matthew Bannister, David Pine, Martin Durrant.
Background information
Origin New Zealand
Genre(s) Rock
Pop
Years active 1981-1992
Label(s) Flying Nun Records
Associated
acts
The Blue Meanies, Death Ray Cafe, Dribbling Darts, Mutton Birds
Former members
Matthew Bannister (guitar, vocals)
David Pine (guitar, vocals)
Martin Durrant (drums, vocals, 1981-1988)
Kat Tyrie (bass, vocals, 1981-1983)
John Kelcher (bass, vocals, 1983-1992)
Ross Burge (drums, vocals, 1988-1982)

Sneaky Feelings were a 1980s New Zealand pop/rock band, led by Matthew Bannister, who recorded on the Flying Nun label. Initially recording with the line-up of Bannister (guitar), David Pine (guitar), Kat Tyrie (bass) and Martin Durrant (drums), Tyrie was replaced by John Kelcher early in the band's career. Durrant left shortly before the band's demise, and was replaced by Ross Burge.

Sneaky Feelings were unusual among Dunedin Sound bands in that all four members of the band sang and several of the members wrote material. The jangle sound of the guitars and layered vocals drew their influence from the music of the Byrds and the Beatles, and comparisons can be made with some of California's Paisley Underground bands.

The band's name comes from a song by Elvis Costello, "Sneaky Feelings", which is on his debut album My Aim Is True (1977).

Contents

[edit] History

Sneaky Feelings were one of four Dunedin bands to reap the benefits of the newly-formed Flying Nun label with the release of the Dunedin Double EP, alongside the Stones, the Verlaines and the Chills. Sadly, the multi-voiced harmonies of their sound were not well-suited to the primitive recording conditions of early Flying Nun, so it is rarely captured at its best on the albums they released. The band's biggest hit was with the single "Husband House" in 1985.

After the demise of Sneaky Feelings in 1989, Bannister moved to Auckland where he founded the Dribbling Darts. He later worked briefly with the Mutton Birds alongside Ross Burge. He also wrote a book about the experience of being in a band during the heyday of the Dunedin Sound movement - Positively George Street. Pine has returned sporadically to music, notably in Dunedin-based band Death Ray Cafe in the late 1980s. Sneaky feelings briefly re-formed in 1992 to record several extra tracks and tour to promote the CD release of Send You.

[edit] Discography

Cover Date Title Label Charted Country Catalog Number
Albums
1983 Send You[1] Flying Nun Records - - FNCD205
1986 Sentimental Education Flying Nun Records - - FNE 14CD
1987 Waiting for Touchdown (compilation) Flying Nun Records - - FN ANDA62
1988 Hard Love Stories Flying Nun Records - - FNE 26 CD
1999 Positively George Street (compilation) Flying Nun Records - - FNCD441
EPs
1982 Dunedin Double EP[2] Flying Nun Records - - FN DUN 1/2

[edit] Featured appearances

The group have appeared on several compilations over the years in New Zealand. The following is a list of these albums that have featured tracks by Sneaky Feelings.

[edit] Singles

Year Single Album NZ Singles Chart Certification
1982 "Be My Friend" 31 -
1985 "Husband House" 16 -
1986 "Better Than Before" 34 -
1986 "Coming True" - -
1987 "Trouble With Kay" - -
1988 "Long Time Gone" - -

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ released on CD in expanded form 1992
  2. ^ along with The Chills, The Stones, and The Verlaines

[edit] Further reading

Bannister, M. (1999). Positively George Street. Auckland: Reed Books. ISBN 0-7900-0704-5