DIIV New Zealand Shows Announced w/ Cut Off Your Hands - Strange Universe #001

Brooklyn guitar-fuzz crew DIIV and our very own Cut Off Your Hands are headlining a bold new vision in local events with Strange Universe #001, taking over Tāmaki Makaurau's The Powerstation and Pōneke's San Fran for two jam-packed extravaganzas in May. Joining the aforementioned groups in the capital are sibling dream-pop adventurers WOMB, while super city punters will be treated to the fearless sonics of Wax Chattels and electronic pop duo Imugi 이무기, plus a selection of dancefloor-igniting tunes spun by DJ Mealy Worm.

Sadly these shows will mark Cut Off Your Hands' final ever live appearances, following a creative resurgence over the past few years which gave us infectious dance-punk singles 'Hate Somebody', 'Higher Lows and Lower Highs' and 'On The Sea'. Starting out as Shaky Hands all the way back in 2006, join the veteran group for the release of their new studio album HLLH and one last hurrah with DIIV – touring their globally acclaimed latest record Deceiver at Strange Universe #001 this autumn...

UPDATE 7/04/20: Strange Universe #001 has sadly been been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, full details over here...

UnderTheRadar proudly presents...

Strange Universe #001: DIIV (USA)
+ Cut Off Your Hands (last ever shows)

Thursday 30th April - San Fran, Wellington w/ WOMB [cancelled]
Friday 1st May - Powerstation, Auckland w/ Wax Chattels, Imugi 이무기, DJ Mealy Worm [cancelled]

Tickets available from 9.00am, Friday 7th February via Banished Music

Watch the clip for DIIV's 'Skin Game', from their 2019 studio album Deceiver...

Check out the animated video for Cut Off Your Hands' 2016 tune 'Hate Somebody'...

Press release:

Banished Music and Strange News, in unison with 95bFM and www.undertheradar.co.nz are ecstatic to unleash into the cosmos STRANGE UNIVERSE, a brand new concert series of galactic proportions, kicking off with a double-header of Brooklyn’s shoegaze superstars DIIV, and the final ever shows from our very own post-punk paladins CUT OFF YOUR HANDS!

Following the critically lauded 2019 release of their third studio album Deceiver, celebrated sonic explorers DIIV bring their soaring new set to Aotearoa this April/May for two giant shows, their first since their iconic 2016 Laneway set.

Having endured more challenges and changes than most bands could handle, DIIV return with a rejuvenated line-up - Zachary Cole Smith (lead vocals, guitar), Andrew Bailey (guitar), Colin Caulfield (bass), and Ben Newman (drums) - and reports are unanimously calling their recent shows the band’s best yet.

Meanwhile, as all good things must come to an end, local guitar heroes CUT OFF YOUR HANDS will burn brilliant and bright once more for their last ever shows, joining DIIV in both Wellington and Auckland. Having travelled the globe with their angular anthems for over a decade, expect all the energy of the sun packed tightly into these fond farewells, accompanied by the release of their final album HLLH.

There was only one Pōneke band that could complete the already colossal San Fran lineup: hometown siblings WOMB. With shimmering harmonies, and reverberating guitar-based hymnals that will leave you entranced; to experience one of their rare live shows is akin to being lost in a dream.

Fleshing out the astonishing Friday night double-header at Auckland’s mighty Powerstation are three of Tāmaki Makaurau’s finest.

Noise-rock, guitar-less guitar band WAX CHATTELS is a name you should be no stranger to. Tāmaki Makaurau based, but known around the world for their staggering live performance, they create music that’s darkly hypnotic, rhythmically complex and sinister. Wax Chattels will be bringing their powerful and enigmatic musical assault to the Powerstation.

Fast-rising silky electronic duo IMUGI 이무기 have changed the game in the Auckland R&B/electronic music scene with a string of gritty and soulful releases, unflinching festival performances and packed to the rafters headline shows. Their EP Vacasian is a trip through the diasporic-Asian-girl-psyche and the healing it takes to go from self-consciousness to self-awareness.

Finally, rounding out this extraordinary bill is the eclectic and wonderful DJ MEALY WORM (95bFM), whose selections always confound and delight.

The collaboration between Matthew Crawley’s Strange News and Reuben Bonner’s Banished From The Universe / Banished Music has been a mutual quest that these two ancient friends have hinted at for over a decade. Finally materialising into fruition via a wondrous and Strange Universe of sound and vision, this show is set to be the first of many, and all for the love of music.