Prior to The Beths coming onto the scene, Auckland, New Zealand’s greatest musical export was the Split Enz (a wildly underrated group that still holds up decades later, FWIW). But with Spiel, the debut LP from locals Office Dog, Auckland could be getting an influx of A&R reps any day now.
The trio’s first record is a dozen sublime indie rock tracks contrasting lo-fi guitars with calm soothing vocals for a puzzlingly beautiful effect. The band is led by Kane Strang, known for his solo work, along with drummer Mitchell Innes and bassist Rassani Tolovaa for a more collaborative project. Formed in 2021, Spiel was recorded in very indie punk rock fashion over the span of just two days. Lighthearted band name aside, the album is an emotionally heavy affair theme-wise, written while Strang was going through a series of personal turmoil and refers to the band as “a ladder out of a pretty rough spot.” He apparently wrote most of the songs on several long drives as he was moving from Dunedin to Auckland, a nearly 900-mile trip from one side of the island to the other.
The tone is set nicely with the opening slow tempo track, “Shade,” an electric guitar strummed under Strang’s unhurried lonely vocals, with the distortion picking up like a dust cloud eventually covering the entire song. That formula of the song starting slow and ratcheting up musically and emotionally continues throughout the record, bringing to mind bands like Built To Spill and Modest Mouse. Among the standout moments here is the piano-based “Warmer,” stripped-down, almost falsetto vocals from Strang showing off the band’s musical depth. Another high point is the upbeat “Big Air,” coming across like Superchunk covering The Strokes. The album closes on the title track, a slow, sludgy emotional track that serves as the perfect bookend to “Shade.” Despite being recorded in such a short burst of time – or maybe because of it – Spiel manages to be as musically diverse as it is moody, offering up a stellar intro to the band.
