10 Best Straitjacket Fits Songs

Of the indie guitar bands proffered by Dunedin’s Flying Nun label in the 1980s, Straitjacket Fits were the most likely to break through to a mass audience. The Fits were based around two vocalists and songwriters who were an unlikely combination but who complemented each other beautifully; Shayne Carter had the rock-star swagger and his songs were driving and anguished. The bookish-looking Andrew Brough played chiming guitar and sang like a choirboy. While other Flying Nun bands made lo-fi jangly indie, Straitjacket Fits sounded huge and sexy.

Straitjacket Fits peaked early, even before their first album. Their debut EP, 1987’s Life In One Chord is a contender for the greatest EP ever recorded, but their subsequent albums failed to capture their live sound. The Carter-Brough partnership only lasted two albums before Brough left the band. The band soldiered on for a third album, 1993’s Blow, before breaking up. Straitjacket Fits didn’t leave a great album catalogue, although 1990’s Melt is a respectable effort. The 2000 compilation Straitjacket Fits does a good job of collating their work, even though it only features two Brough songs and ‘Cat Inna Can’ is irritating.

Brough recorded an album with Bike in 1997 but released little else before his passing in 2020. Carter has enjoyed success both before and after Straitjacket Fits, enjoying acclaim for 2001’s Dimmer album ‘I Believe You Are A Star’.

10 Best Straitjacket Fits Songs

#10 Bad Note For A Heart

written by Shayne Carter, from Melt (1990)
‘Bad Note for a Heart’ was the lead single from Straitjacket Fits’ second album, Melt. The music video was directed by Nikki Caro, who’d later work on the acclaimed film Whale Rider. Carter told RipItUp magazine that his dark eye shadow in the ‘Bad Note for a Heart’ video was “definitely a low point in rock”.

#9 Life In One Chord

written by Shayne Carter, from Hail (1988)
After their accomplished debut EP, the band’s first full-length is something of a disappointment. The band had already used many of their best songs for the debut EP, and it sounded less dynamic. Accordingly, four of the songs from Hail were cut for its international release, in favour of the tracks from the EP. Carter’s punk-flavoured ‘Life in One Chord’ was one of the most notable new tunes on the debut, along with a cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘So Long, Marianne’.

#8 Hand In Mine

written by Andrew Brough, from Melt (1990)
The producer of Straitjacket Fits’ sophomore album drenched them in reverb, making them sound akin to the shoegaze bands coming out of the UK at the time. It works well for this Brough tune, which sounds similar to The Smashing Pumpkins’ 1993 single ‘Disarm’.

#7 Missing Presumed Drowned

written by Shayne Carter, from Melt (1990)
New Zealand is surrounded by coastline; accordingly, there are unusually high numbers of songs about water – think Split Enz’s ‘Six Months in A Leaky Boat’, The Mutton Birds’ ‘Anchor Me’, and DD Smash’s ‘Whaling’. ‘Missing Presumed Drowned’ is Carter’s contribution to the canon – it’s not literally about drowning, instead a metaphor for alcoholism. It’s a great example of what Straitjacket Fits do well, with Brough’s pretty harmonies colliding with a gnarled guitar riff.

#6 Cast Stone

written by Shayne Carter, from Melt (1990)
‘Cast Stone’ is an obvious closing track, a stately anthem that ends with a haunting guitar fadeout. It’s clearly a reflection on mortality – Carter lost Wayne Elsey, his partner in The Doublehappys, to a train accident. It’s not Carter’s first tribute to Elsey – he already released the outstanding ‘Randolph’s Coming Home’ as a solo record before forming Straitjacket Fits.

Someone else outside, I wanna leave the light on
Burn bright and never die ’til I’m gone
Gonna let the tide and its sea wash me gently
Caught in its swirl, yeah, that’s the way I wanna go

#5 Burn It Up

written by Shayne Carter, from Blow (1993)
Recorded after Brough’s departure, Straitjacket Fits’ final album Blow is their least interesting. Without the creative tension between Brough and Carter, and Brough’s harmonies and popsense complementing Carter’s angular songs, they’re left as merely a solid alt-rock band. Carter’s driving rocker ‘Burn It Up’ is the highlight, built around a great guitar riff.

#4 Sparkle That Shines

written by Andrew Brough, from Life In One Chord EP (1987)
Brough’s contribution to the sublime Life In One Chord EP is ‘Sparkle That Shines’. It sounds influenced by The Smiths – the guitars jangle and Brough’s warm voice recalls Morrissey. Brough recalled that “I don’t like the singing so much on [‘Sparkle That Shines’] because it’s quite pompous and young. I could sing it a lot better now.”

#3 Dialling A Prayer

written by Shayne Carter, from Life In One Chord EP (1987)
Carter utilises anguished verses and a huge, harmony-stacked chorus. Carter’s claim in his biography that ‘Dialling a Prayer’ “predated art-noise bands like Sonic Youth” is a little tenuous, but ‘Dialling a Prayer’ presages the angst and big dynamics of 1990s alt-rock, despite its 1987 release date.

Carter told the Otago Daily Times that ‘Dialling a Prayer’ “is a tank. It works whether you play it with a band or on an out-of-tune acoustic. And it cooks the whole way through.”

#2 Down In Splendour

written by Andrew Brough, from Melt (1990)
Brough fronts one of the lighter, poppier songs from the group, although Carter’s stinging guitar solo adds some bite. The success of ‘Down in Splendour’ created issues for the group – their record label wanted more radio-friendly Brough songs, but he wasn’t a prolific songwriter, with Carter writing the majority of the Straitjacket Fits catalogue. Meanwhile, on-stage Carter dedicated ‘Down In Splendour’ “for all you grandmas out there”.

#1 She Speeds

written by Shayne Carter, from Life In One Chord EP (1987)
From their debut EP, Carter’s ‘She Speeds’ is Straitjacket Fits’ signature song. The song benefits from the contrasting styles of Carter and Brough; Carter’s angst fuels the terse verses, while Brough’s backing vocals provide the hook in the triumphant chorus. ‘She Speeds’ was voted as the 9th best New Zealand song on the APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time list in 2001. ‘She Speeds’ was written about a couple of kisses with Kiwi actress Miranda Harcourt, who instead went on to marry my distant relative, a marriage that’s produced famous actress Thomasin McKenzie.

Carter told Audioculture – “That was one that people picked up on. I didn’t put any more work, or any less work into that tune, than I put into any of my other ones.”

And I quietly count with her gone
Name any number and I’m counting beyond
Playing it coolly, though you know it isn’t even really there
Caress one night away, I was looking for more
More, more, more

But she
She speeds
Elusive as a thief in the night, she’s stealing away

Shayne Carter, She Speeds

Have I included your favourite Straitjacket Fits’ song?

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