Great Sounds Great, Good Sounds Good, So-So Sounds So-So, Bad Sounds Bad, Rotten Sounds Rotten!!

The Clean’s second EP, Great Sounds Great, Good Sounds Good, So-So Sounds So-So, Bad Sounds Bad, Rotten Sounds Rotten!!, returns to vinyl for the first time since its original 1982 release.

Following the success of Boodle Boodle Boodle, the band were keen to maintain their momentum without repeating themselves. Recorded in an old house in Christchurch by Doug Hood and Chris Knox in March 1982, Great Sounds Great draws on the more eclectic and idiosyncratic material from their live set, with a more considered approach to arrangements.

Opening instrumental “Fish” layers three guitar tracks, while organ takes a prominent role elsewhere, most notably on the enduring “Beatnik”. “Side On” and “End of My Dream” demonstrate a minimalist approach, using just three and two tracks respectively on Chris Knox’s TEAC four-track machine. The EP reached number four in the New Zealand charts and remained there for three months.

This reissue is pressed on black vinyl and remastered by Tex Houston from fresh transfers of the original master tapes held at the Alexander Turnbull Library, part of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa.

Side A

1. Fish
2. Flowers
3. Side On
4. Slug Song

Side B

5. Beatnik
6. End of my Dream
7. On Again Off Again