From Wellington, New Zealand’s Underwire, ‘Always’ is a heartfelt skapunk / reggae song of love and loss. With both feet in the two-tone movement of the 1980s, and the ska of such icons as The Clash, The Ruts, and Stiff Little Fingers, ‘Always’ is a breakup song, but one of acceptance rather than melancholy: about picking yourself up and moving on with life. Since the band’s formation, ‘Always’ has been the ray of sun in Underwire’s stormy live sets: a bright counterpoint in their genre-jumping musical range. Producer Scott Seabright has caught the love of the band for this song, delivering a great little track with light, shade, and panache.
‘Head first, heart first, hopeless - what the hell?’
A departure from the more familiar indie / alternative rock of Underwire releases to date, ‘Always’ is sung by the band’s guitarist and the song’s author, Mark ‘Spike’ Roxburgh, who says: “The lyrics just kind of poured out over the riff when I wrote it: a simple reggae style riff, which had a starkness to it, and seemed to fit the sense of loss at the time. It’s more of a punk riff really, but that’s just how I write.”
Underwire play like they mean it, with a distinctly fun, stormy, alt-rock sound – with hints of surf punk, garage rock, swampy blues, and psychobilly – and in the case of the new single, ‘Always’, two-tone ska and reggae. Formed from the collision of Clash and Pixies covers bands, Underwire quickly became a popular live act on the energetic Wellington indie music scene. Since their debut single ‘Gravity’ in 2023, Underwire have released a string of singles produced by Scott Seabright; clocked up over 27,000 YouTube views of their self-made videos; received airplay on indie radio around New Zealand, Australia, the US, UK, and mainland Europe; and have spent more than six months on Apple’s global New Rock and other playlists.
In their current lineup, Underwire features members of Wazzo Ghoti / Wazzo Clash, Proxies, Shanakie, and Head Like a Hole: with founding members Johnny Mills (guitar, vocals), Jane Brimblecombe (vocals), and Mark ‘Spike’ Roxburgh (guitar, vocals) being joined by Mark Hamill (drums), and Steve Tremewan (bass).
The new single ‘Always’ is out now for download from Bandcamp, and streaming from Spotify, Apple, Tidal, Deezer, and Amazon. Find Underwire: B