Able Tasmans Album Reviews

Graeme Humphreys started his musical career in the Whangārei band Sister Ray. Located in the subtropical north, Whangārei is the furthest NZ city from the Flying Nun epicentre of Dunedin. Humphreys moved to Auckland to study zoology and recruited classmate Peter Keen as vocalist.

Based around Humphrey’s and Leslie Jonkers’ keyboards, the Able Tasmans are more sedate and sophisticated than most of their Flying Nun contemporaries. Their literate, jangly indie resembles contemporaries like The Chills and The Go-Betweens. Their name puns on Abel Janzoon Tasman, the first European to sight New Zealand.

The band was more of a hobby than a career. Peter Keen worked as a marine biologist, while Graeme Humphreys reinvented himself as a radio DJ (using the name Graeme Hill to avoid embarrassment when he played his band’s music), talkback host, and TV scriptwriter.

Able Tasmans Album Reviews

The Tired Sun (EP)

A Cuppa Tea and a Lie Down

Hey Spinner!

Somebody Ate My Planet

The Shape of Dolls (EP)

Store in a Cool Place

Humphreys and Keen

The Overflow

10 Best Able Tasmans Songs

The Tired Sun (EP)

1985
The Able Tasmans’ debut EP is less ornate than their later work. With a simple five-piece band, there are fewer baroque flourishes. It’s appended to later editions of A Cuppa Tea and a Lie Down. The cover was created by Leslie Jonkers, soon to join the band on organ.

The Tired Sun suggests a few directions that the group didn’t fully explore in their later work. The sedate sections of ‘Snow White Chook’ are as pastoral as the band ever got. Conversely, ‘Tom’s Song’ is frenetic, the band at their most abrasive. A brief rendition of the live favourite ‘Nelson the Cat’ is also featured.

For my money, none of these songs rank with the band’s best, but The Tired Sun is loaded with interesting possibilities.

A Cuppa Tea and a Lie Down

1987, 7.5/10
The Able Tasmans’ debut album is atypical for the Flying Nun label – it’s pastoral and gentle, recalling 1960s chamber-pop or Pink Floyd at their most gentle. The group’s original two members, Humphreys and bassist Dave Beniston, were joined by a surprisingly extensive cast of ring-ins for the recording of their debut. 22 different musicians contributed – vocalist Peter Keen and keyboardist Leslie Jonkers stuck around and became core members of the band.

Many of the songs dated back to the song’s early days. Humphreys later said that: “We didn’t have the mechanism or the line-up to do it and it’s really grown. I really like the album because at last all those ideas are realised.”

Keen’s nonchalant vocals disguise the album’s eclecticism. It ranges from the baroque piano of ‘We Swam the Magic Bay’ to the intense, Doors-inspired ‘Rainbow’. But the best songs are melodic, psychedelic gems like ‘Little Hearts’ and ‘What Was That Thing’.

A Cuppa Tea and a Lie Down can be overly subdued, but it boasts some great songs.

Hey Spinner!

1990, 9/10
The Able Tasman’s second album is their strongest. Everything comes together – their best batch of songs, coupled with the best presentation. The fast songs are raw and energetic. On the mellow songs, the baroque pop flourishes counteract their mundane vocals, giving them more vigour.

Veteran Flying Nun bassist Jane Dodd joined the band, and her harmonies are an asset.

The star attraction is ‘Hold Me I’, which builds from a baroque piano introduction into an irresistible pop song. ‘Michael Fay’ is also memorable, a jangly fantasy about a rich New Zealander giving his money away. A punk tinge helps drive tracks like ‘Angry Martyr’.

Hey Spinner! is a terrific record from an overlooked band.

Somebody Ate My Planet

1992, 7/10
Nirvana’s influence on the rock world is probably overstated sometimes, but it’s evident that the Able Tasmans toughened up their sound for Somebody Ate My Planet. As the title implies, they spotlight environmental issues.

The best moments are when they lean into complexity and quirkiness. The straight-ahead rock of ‘Asian Aphrodisiac Solution’ is way less interesting than the chamber pop of ‘The Cliff’.

There’s a trio of interesting tracks at the start. ‘Circular’ is gentle yet chaotic, while the single ‘Fault in the Frog’ features bagpipes. The lengthy ‘School is No Good For You’ has gorgeous folk-flavoured sections. But the rest of the record is less interesting – rockers like ‘Big Fat’ don’t play to their strengths.

It’s worth checking out Somebody Ate My Planet for the opening trio of tracks, but it was the Able Tasmans’ least interesting record to date.

The Shape of Dolls (EP)

1993
The group released a five-song EP between their last two albums. If you enjoy their last two albums, you’ll like this too – it feels like a self-contained project rather than leftovers.

Apart from the rocker ‘The Big Bang Theory’, it’s mostly mellow. Keen’s voice suits dreamy songs like ‘Mayfly May’.

Store in a Cool Place

1995, 6.5/10
The Able Tasmans recorded their final album with engineer Tex Houston in a former psychiatric ward in Auckland. Someone had to stay overnight each evening to watch over the gear. It’s a further move towards guitar-driven alternative rock.

They’re better at alt-rock than before, although the local newspaper wrote that “a lot of the songs are disappointing and heavy with a circus-like atmosphere.” The album’s real issue is the disjointed nature – particularly the lengthy instrumental ‘Parallax’, which feels like 16 minutes of pretty filler.

Despite the unevenness, the good songs are as strong as ever. The sophisticated vocal arrangements on songs like ‘Giant’ and ‘Simple’ add a new dimension to their sound, reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane. ‘Dog Whelk 2’ is pretty and folk-based, while the organ-driven ‘My Name is Peter Keen’ boasts the record’s prettiest melody.

Store in a Cool Place is disjointed, but the best songs are excellent.

Humphreys and Keen

The Overflow

2005
The two principal members of the Able Tasmans reunited for a one-off album in 2005. They’re joined by long-term members Jane Dodd and Craig Mason, while Leslie Jonkers designed the cover.

It’s hard to track down – it’s not on streaming services. But based on a quick listen on Bandcamp, it’s a more sedate and sentimental spin on the Able Tasmans’ sound.