A band rightly praised during their Australian tour, New Zealand's Loves Ugly Children are not of the pretty pop school of music, they're an angry 3 piece who have a cool new album out called Showered In Gold, containing some of the best aggressive music that New Zealand has to offer.

I recently spoke to Simon from the band about the new album & their touring experiences in Australia, with the band having just performed live on ABC TV's Recovery.

"That was a very interesting experience, we'd never really done the 'teeny-bopper thing before, though it sort of wasn't quite like the regular teen music show - certainly interesting nonetheless."

Having spoken to a couple of bands from New Zealand, I asked Simon how Australia compared with New Zealand music-wise.

"The culture's are pretty similar, you know, no culture shock. I guess we'll probably have to re-locate here eventually, because there's just not as many opportunities in New Zealand as there are in Australia. There's a fairly active scene in New Zealand, but just not enough people."

With the subject of culture popping up so easily, I asked the usual question about the state of radio coverage for the band & about the general way radio is in New Zealand.

"It's very unusual, commercial radio both in New Zealand & in Australia since we've been here have been playing a little of our song Sixpack from the album which is a little weird for us as we're not used to commercial radio giving us a go. But it's good too as we're getting across to a lot of people who may not have heard our music before. As for radio in New Zealand, I think it seems generally similar to radio here. Perhaps it's slowly changing, but I think it'll be a slow process."

As we spoke, the subject of the band's raw sound came up with a mention of technology & consequently the Internet.

"I haven't had much of a look around on it yet, but I've got some friends who have & they've given me a bit of a go. I had plans a while ago to get stuck into it, get an email address & an Internet account after I'd bought a computer, but it just hasn't happened because I didn't have enough money at the time. I guess it's the same old story as always isn't it - you get the money at the wrong end of your life."

The band had been received well during their last visit to Australia & I asked Simon how their performances & songwriting had improved since that last trip.

"We've changed a bit, our performances are better I think & of course we've got more material to work with in our shows now so I think the fans are getting a better show when they come to see us. Hopefully our songs are also getting better. I think so because the media seem to have taken to us a lot better this time in New Zealand, but I think it's a bit early to say anything about the media in Australia, because the album's only just been released. I hope they like it though."

Lastly, with the subject of touring still in the air, I asked Simon if the band would like to get on the Livid Festival next year.

"We'd sure love to do Livid, maybe next year. It's probably become the most highly regarded of the festivals since the Big Day Out finished up. That's left a bit of a hole as the visits by the Big Day Out to New Zealand were hugely popular. I guess & hope that something takes it's place because it was the only time New Zealand fans got to see that many good bands in the one place, so we can only keep waiting - someone must come up with something."

Catch up with Loves Ugly Children when their playing near you or check out their cool album Showered In Gold out through MDS.