Bloomsbury Academic The Front Lawn's Songs from the Front Lawn (33 1/3 Oceania)

Songs From The Front Lawn documents a distinctively '80s NZ alternative variety act, in a tradition of NZ duos (The Topp Twins, Flight of the Conchords) who combine music, comedy and film, with classic songs like "Andy", "How You Doing," "When You Come Back Home" and "Claude Rains." The album is a snapshot of '80s NZ, a turbulent, creative period for indie music (the album was self-released), indie film (the group made a number of influential short films including Walkshort and The Lounge Bar) and musical theatre, celebrating local identity in new ways. Both members, Don McGlashan and Harry Sinclair, went on to greater things – McGlashan to the Mutton Birds; Sinclair became a film director (Topless Women Talk About Their Lives) and actor (Lord of the Rings).