Split Enz

• Waiata [A&M, 1981] C+
• History Never Repeats (The Best of Split Enz) [A&M, 1987] B-

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Waiata [A&M, 1981]
They're still hyped as "avant-garde." Probably because they mix their twitty, intermittently tuneful art-pop with Nino Rota homages and stereo effects that go back to the house of Gary Usher. C+

History Never Repeats (The Best of Split Enz) [A&M, 1987]
From Down Under, where Vanda-Young are Goffin-King if not Lennon-McCartney, pretenders who made Squeeze, their pop compatriots across the Tasman Sea, seem like heavyweights on spritz and detail alone. Tunes and metaphors are brought skillfully to completion like an A student's notebook exercise--you'll remember every song. But you'll never know why you bothered. B-