Apart from the Judd era Split Enz, Straitjacket Fits are my favourite Kiwi band. So don’t expect any objectivism in my critique. Every time I listen to one of their records it seems impossible that SJF didn’t ‘make it big’. Incredulity aside, success and failure in the music industry are not necessarily in anyway related to share-talent. There has never really been a globally successful Kiwi band and if the experience of SJF (1986-94) is anything to go by – it is highly unlikely there ever will be. Becoming inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame is no where as significant as making an impact, heaps of dosh on the global music scene. Geography and lack of motivated multi-national record companies, underpowered locals are seemingly impenetrable barriers for N.Z bands to overcome. So what made Straitjacket Fits such a great band? In two words: their songs. They wrote great guitar-driven songs that complimented the relative strengths of the vocalists and musicians. They clicked, in my humble opinion never produced a bum tune. Sonics melted into Pop in a wonderful amalgam. That’s why you can’t go wrong investing in their music. Melody Maker (4th January 1992) succinctly stated "Straitjacket Fits are the weirdest guitar band in the world. They are also the best." Need I say more?
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