Emerging from underground

New Zealand music icons The Bats and The Clean both release new albums this year and in “anticipation of this sudden surge in Antipodean creativity, [arts and culture site Flavorwire] rang up the Bats singer/songwriter and the Clean bassist Robert Scott to talk Flying Nun, fallen stars, and what it’s like to juggle two seminal underground acts.” “It’s really strange, isn’t it?” Scott said of the double whammy. “It’s actually sort of difficult, because we’ve been trying to arrange tours for both bands.” Scott’s logistical nightmare is music lovers’ unequivocal gain: both stand-out pop albums, The Bats’ The Guilty Office and The Clean’s Mister Pop each subtly update the lo-fi psychedelic sound that defined the country’s late-’80s era. It’s unusual to be in one band for more than 20 years — but two? How does Scott manage that? “We’ve taken long breaks with both bands — breaks to have kids, breaks to do other things,” he said. “I think being apart once in a while keeps us together.”