Punches

When Kelly Sherrod re-located from Auckland to Nashville a few years back, it’d have been reasonable to expect that Punches 2006 EP was the bright flame that was to burn short. But, apparently that TV ad years ago that featuring the likes of Che Fu transferring musical sketches to band-mates over this brand new thing called the internet predicted something great – the continued friendship and artistic coupling of Kelly and (fellow Dimmer player (and solo artist under his own name) James Duncan – as Punches deliver a moody, brooding and, well, obviously etherial long player.

Lead single Hold Your Head is nestled centrally in the album surrounded by the uneasy combination of lush warmth and steely cold – which, for me has always been what’s been most interesting about Punches – how they manage to somehow combine those polar opposites within a singular. And, perhaps, these climatic opposites were accentuated by the pairs hemispherical distance when writing and making this album.

Naturally, when you combine lush warmth, like thermal spring water with, say the ice-y breath of a winters morning; you get steam that’s both sultry and invigorating. Listening to Etheria is like watching Twin Peaks; the drama is beautifully crafted, subtle and, ever-so satisfying.

New single, with John Campbell and Toby Longbottom (Campbell Live) directed music video, Give It Up breaths and pulses in the most wonderful slow motion – I’ve watched plants unfurl their ferns, flowers open their petals and cells divide to this song; in it’s own contrast seemingly about drawing to a final exhalation it imparts new beginnings.

Bat For Lashes and perhaps even dark-Beach House come to mind in moments of listening to this album – and I only say that by way of some reference to those readers who may be unfamiliar with Punches – consider them more like vague directions given to you by a friend before you start a journey, rather, than a detailed map. - review by Andrew Tidball
4.5 / 5 Stars - Cheese On Toast

When Kelly Sherrod re-located from Auckland to Nashville a few years back, it’d have been reasonable to expect that Punches 2006 EP was the bright flame that was to burn short. But, apparently that TV ad years ago that featuring the likes of Che Fu transferring musical sketches to band-mates over this brand new thing called the internet predicted something great – the continued friendship and artistic coupling of Kelly and (fellow Dimmer player (and solo artist under his own name) James Duncan – as Punches deliver a moody, brooding and, well, obviously etherial long player.

Lead single Hold Your Head is nestled centrally in the album surrounded by the uneasy combination of lush warmth and steely cold – which, for me has always been what’s been most interesting about Punches – how they manage to somehow combine those polar opposites within a singular. And, perhaps, these climatic opposites were accentuated by the pairs hemispherical distance when writing and making this album.

Naturally, when you combine lush warmth, like thermal spring water with, say the ice-y breath of a winters morning; you get steam that’s both sultry and invigorating. Listening to Etheria is like watching Twin Peaks; the drama is beautifully crafted, subtle and, ever-so satisfying.

New single, with John Campbell and Toby Longbottom (Campbell Live) directed music video, Give It Up breaths and pulses in the most wonderful slow motion – I’ve watched plants unfurl their ferns, flowers open their petals and cells divide to this song; in it’s own contrast seemingly about drawing to a final exhalation it imparts new beginnings.

Bat For Lashes and perhaps even dark-Beach House come to mind in moments of listening to this album – and I only say that by way of some reference to those readers who may be unfamiliar with Punches – consider them more like vague directions given to you by a friend before you start a journey, rather, than a detailed map. - review by Andrew Tidball - Cheese On Toast

Singer/bassist Kelly Sherrod and guitarist/singer James Duncan - both formerly in Dimmer, she now based in Nashville - follow the dreamy folk-psychedelia of their self-titled 2006 EP with this beguiling, hypnotic album recorded long-distance and low-key in distant home studios, which makes it remarkable ... although also a product of our high-tech times.

The scoured vocals and rusty-guitar aggression of Hold Your Head ("scrub your skin to the bone") and the increasingly menacing and oppressive gloom of Blue Moon in the centre, leap out from the whispery dreamscapes like a nightmare and prove all is not benign in this ethereal world.

But mostly, these seductive surfaces pull you into a slightly chilly place awash with guitars, layered vocals (to choral effect on the claustrophobically beautiful Give It Up), and strange percussive elements and dynamic shifts.

Pop is not ignored (the angular urgency of Downtown, the alt.folk angle of Tools of the Trade) but the whispery and unnerving Ill Devotee invites you to that uncomfortably neon-lit place where David Lynch is your host. The nine-minute The Notes You Don't Hear is shapeshifting astral prog-folk that is never predictable.


Etheria is engrossing, often otherworldly and a fascinatingly uncomfortable state to be taken to. Scarifyingly good.

Stars: 4.5/5
Verdict: Disconcerting, timeless music
- NZ Herald