Description

Children’s Hour – Flesh

Released: 1983 | Flying Nun Records | C60 | Original New Zealand Pressing | 12-inch EP

Flesh is the powerful and menacing debut EP from Children’s Hour, one of the darker and more uncompromising bands to emerge from New Zealand’s early-1980s Flying Nun scene. Released in 1983, it captures the band at a particularly intense point in their short career, combining angular guitars, driving rhythms and Chris Matthews’ distinctive vocals into a raw, atmospheric sound.

The five tracks have a distinctly dark and confrontational character, drawing on the emerging post-punk sound while retaining the abrasive energy of the New Zealand underground. Caroline’s Dream, Go Slow, I Know Where She Lies, Slaughter House and Looking for the Sun make up the EP, with the latter particularly notable for its shifting moods and ringing guitars.

Children’s Hour were part of the close-knit Flying Nun community that included bands such as The Gordons, The Chills and The Skeptics. Flesh was recorded at Progressive Studios with Doug Hood and Terry King, and contemporary coverage described it as a powerful and unsettling record that captured the band’s live intensity.

Track Listing

Side 1

1. Caroline’s Dream
2. Go Slow
3. I Know Where She Lies

Side 2

1. Slaughter House
2. Looking for the Sun

A scarce and highly collectable early Flying Nun release, Flesh is an important document of New Zealand’s original post-punk underground and Children’s Hour’s brief but influential career.