NRA: Bruce McLaren (1991)

The ferocious NRA (Not Really Anything) were one of those Flying Nun bands of the late Eighties/early Nineties that you either got, or steered well clear of.

Live, they were not for the faint-hearted so it was perhaps no surprise they should record this salute to New Zealand's famous racing car driver and the thrill of speed and twisted metal.

They seem to have disappeared from consciousness today -- they have nothing at Amplifier and I have not seen any reissues of their albums. (I have two, Mud Babies and Hold On To Your Face, as well as this 12" remix of Bruce McLaren. There may have been more.)

They were at various times -- I am prepared to stand corrected because memory is a fragile thing these days -- Rex Visible, Bevan Sweeney, Joost Langveld, Grant Fell, Michael Lawry, Brent Gordon . . . and Fiona McDonald who briefly sang with them before moving on to the Headless Chickens (which also had Sweeney, Fell and Lawry for a while). NRA and the early Headless Chickens not only shared members but shared an ethic.

Seems a shame their visceral sound which rode a wave between guitar rock and punchy dance music (and incorporated samples) isn't out there today.

While considering that, turn this up loud. It is lifted from a well played record so the sound quality isn't the best.

But that's better than not having heard it, I figure.

Update: I have just learned that Hold Onto Your Face is available digitally through Flying Nun at Flying Outhere

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