Back in 2005 when I was in Junior College, I discovered bands that were often under the radar, thanks to an incredible website called Prog Archives. Hearing bands such as Magma, Van der Graaf Generator, Marillion, Renaissance, Curved Air, followed by the 5-CD box set my mom got for me entitle Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock era. Which introduced me to Aphrodite’s Child, CAN, Ash Ra Tempel, Atomic Rooster, The Savage Rose, and Italian maestros Le Orme.
It was like finding hidden treasure in the Sierra Madre. Fast-forward to 2025, 20 years later, here I am scrolling through my Instagram page, hearing this incredible music coming from the outskirts of New Zealand that had been around since their formation in 1972. When I heard Split Enz’s ‘Late Last Night’, I was completely spell bound from what I was hearing.
It was like a breath of fresh air. They were originally known for their progressive rock sound with their flamboyant and theatrical performances before moving into the new wave sound and then re-formed as Crowded House. Hearing ‘Late Last Night’ did bring back the sounds of Stackridge with the prog-pop sounds with a 1940s setting, mellotron, horn sections, piano, and dancing in the moon light with acoustic guitar followed by a slide guitar texture.
That and this incredible 5-CD set which consists their first two albums, Mental Notes and Second Thoughts, originally released on the White Cloud and Mushroom label between 1975 and 1976, followed by a new mix of the Second Thoughts album by Eddie Rayner, rough mixes, and four live recordings of the band’s performance at Ormond Hall on December 30th, 1975.
It also contains a 20-page book, containing photos of the band performing, promos, concert posters, commentary from Tim Finn, Phil Manzanera (who produced the Second Thoughts album), Eddie Rayner, and an excerpt from Mike Chunn’s 2019 book; Stranger Than Fiction: The Lime and Times of Split Enz. Not only the music is amazing, but the look of the band during their hey-day was almost like a circus act, or something straight out of the miming company with a glam orientation that’s a cross between Roxy Music, Bowie, Floyd, Stackridge, and the Big Band sound of the 1940s.
Why do you think that maybe Cardiacs were heavily inspired by them? Not just because of the way they looked, but how they can write incredible music and incredible songs that can fill your heart out with amazement. Before going into the new wave territory and having hits such as ‘I Got You’, ‘Six Months in a Leaky Boat’, ‘History Never Repeats’, and ‘Message to my Girl’ and way before Neil Finn joined the band to lend his brother Tim a helping hand, the two albums (Mental Notes and Second Thoughts) were the gateway of what they were going to do, and the direction they were about to take.
Centrepieces including the mellotron ‘40s with an acoustic prog-pop dance along the yellow brick road on ‘Late Last Night’, the wackiness fun behind ‘Lovey Dovey’, going into this film-noir symphonic approach nod to a glam-rock approach between Stackridge and Paul McCartney’s first solo album on ‘Stanger than Fiction’, the Twilight Zone eerie-sque atmosphere into insanity for ‘Spellbound’, and the Pete Townshend style flamenco with a Fairport Convention twist on ‘Split Ends’.
But it’s the fifth disc is where we explore more from their Art Rock-era. Featuring their performance at Ormond Hall on December 30th, 1975 in Melbourne with audience being blown away of not just their theatrics and the suits they wore, but blaring out incredible arrangements which is featured on ‘Sweet Dreams’, ‘Matinee Idyl’, the synthesised-cabaret explosion that’ll send you into outer worlds on ‘Under The Wheel’, and the piano ballad with ‘Time for a Change’.
Elsewhere, there’s the rough mixes for ‘Late Last Night’ without the usage of the mellotron in the introduction, but bringing it in earlier on with a sunlifting experiment as they turn it into a big band take of a vaudevillian nod to Fred Astaire before it ascends into the open skies with the mandolin and of course mellotron flute on the romantic wonders for ‘Titus’.
While they were ahead of their time, you could tell how amazing Split Enz had taken their toes into the prog waters before going into the pop orientation with amazing settings. And now with the reunion tour hitting Australia next year (they’ll kick it off in April performing at the Bluesfest Byron Bay sharing the bill with Earth, Wind and Fire, The Black Crowes, Counting Crows, Buddy Guy, and Jerry Harrison / Adrian Belew for the Remain in Light tour, celebrating Talking Heads’ 1980 classic) for four venues in May for the Forever Enz tour; Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, ICC Theatre in Sydney, RAC Arena in Perth, and the Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, the box set is a perfect introduction to the wonders and madness that is Split Enz if you’re very new to the band’s music.
