KarateParty.org - Fly My Pretties

Fly My Pretties
The Return (2005)
Loop

****½ OUT OF *****

In order to continue your education of music and the way of the audiophile, we now delve into the area of review by comparison. This may sound somewhat imposing, but I assure you, all we are doing is comparing an album with our musical experiences. The preferable comparison is to another one of the artist’s works, or a recent concert. Today we have a treat, in that we can review an album in light of previous work, and in light of a recent concert, with Fly My Pretties: The Return.

Fly My Pretties is a collection of Wellington musicians, all famous in the local music scene on their own accord. They were made up of guys from The Black Seeds, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Paselode, and the Phoenix Foundation. I guess you can call them a “Super-Group”, but that just sounds like Super-Groove, something entirely different. Fly My Pretties started off in 2004 with artists like Age Pryor, Sam Flynn Scott from Phoenix Foundation, and the brains of the operation – Barnaby Weir, from The Black Seeds. For those of you that don’t recognise some of these names then let me throw some history at you: Weir –like Dick Weir from National Radio’s Ears. This boy had a music career before he could walk. Scott – like Tom Scott, the political commentator and cartoonist. He has a humorous side. Pryor – if you’re between the ages of 16 and 25, then chances are he taught you at the Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre. Who would have thought that a kayak instructor for kids had a secret musical career.

These guys played at Bats Theatre in Wellington in Spring 2004, and released an album that summer consisting of their best performances from the concerts. It was phenomenal. Most Wellingtonians know all the words to “Singing in My Soul”, “Bag of Money”, “Lucky” and if you were any where near any of the Wellington Pools, you probably know the whole album off by heart including the introductions. The concert series was a sell out, and album sales were amazing. Needless to say, it should be a staple part of any New Zealand music collection.

So, on the back of their success, these guys returned with even more faces in Spring of 2005. New names include the smooth vocals and guitar styles of Adi Dick from Stylus 77, and the soulful, powerful and damn hot Hollie Smith. The concert was one of the most amazing I’ve ever been to, taking you on a roller coaster ride of sound, thrills and giggles. So too does the album.

The actual album comes in a CD and DVD package, with the exact same material on both, one with pictures of the performance and the background graphics they used. The songs, though, are pretty damn stunning with the highlights being “Get Out” and “Shouldn’t I Know”. Hollie Smith’s “Clarity” and “Miracles” are pretty damn good, but they don’t really capture the beauty of the songs as they were live. That might be because all but one of the tracks comes from the Auckland concert, which by comparison to my Wellington experience, must have been pretty shoddy. The last show in Wellington was superb, and I’m frankly surprised that they haven’t used the versions from that night. Viewing of the DVD does provide some respite, as it sounds and looks like the recording quality in Wellington was a bit crap. So maybe it’s a good thing, that way I can relish the unique Wellington experience and keep it to myself.

The thing that I really miss from the original album and from the live concert, however, is the wicked dialogues and interludes between songs. The witty interaction with the crowd, the awkward gaps, and background behind the songs are too valuable, and too integral in my mind. Seven minutes of Hollie Smith gearing up for her first performance of the show by swearing non-stop and ruing the absence of tequila in the rider from the matinee is something to be heard to believe.

The album also leaves out the stunning versions of “Champion” and “Singing in My Soul” that, while from the original album, were reprised for this concert. There’s nothing like an entire crowd singing along to two people and two guitars, and they sounded better than last time. So why did they leave it off the album? I’m at a loss.

Nonetheless the album is packed full of fourteen tracks, well, including the DVD credits it’s actually fifteen, plus a further three extra songs and another video edit. So all credit to Barnaby and Dr Lee Prebble, as they’ve pulled off another stunner. Fly My Pretties is an amazing collection of folk, soul, roots, dub, rock, and whatever else they decided to play that night. It is an amazing album, but it just falls short of capturing the entire concert for me. My advice, buy the album. Play it over and over, as it will never be played to death, and pray that they play some concerts again next year.

And there we have it. Review by comparison. Remember, you are the reviewer, the focus of people’s attention, and they need to know about your musical prowess and the fact that you went to the last Wellington concert, which sold out in four hours. The other lesson we learnt, is to take stars off for not meeting personal taste, there’s no need to be entirely objective here. If they don’t provide you with what you want, you can be a dick, you already are.

If you enjoy this album, check out:

Fly My Pretties Live at Bats
Age Pryor City Chorus
Hollie Smith EP
Stylus 77 Stylus 77
Black Seeds Keep on Pushing LP and On the Sun
The Phoenix Foundation Horsepower and Pegasus
Fat Freddy’s Drop Based on a True Story
Paselode Taming of the Wasp