Like a sunnier version of the throbbing pulse of the Velvet Underground before it, the sound of the Clean, from Dunedin, New Zealand, refuses to go away. With a permanent cast that has remained the same for almost 30 years, brothers David and Hamish Kilgour and Robert Scott have survived the occasional band breakup, Hamish moving to New York, David releasing solo albums and Robert starting his own band, the Bats. With its most recent records (including the new Mister Pop on Merge), the Clean proves, once again, there is rock ‘n’ roll life after 40. The band members make music whenever they can assemble all the parts and remain a permanent fixture in the rock landscape. The Clean is guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with them.
David Kilgour: I’m very fond of trees, especially New Zealand’s Cordyline australis, commonly known as the cabbage tree.I think it could be a relation to the U.S.’s Joshua tree. Funnily enough, I think they are part of the lily family of plants. Due to overplanting, I’ve had to stop myself from planting them around our house.
