Weekly MP3 #171: Tono & the Finance Company - Marion Bates Realty

Submitted by jet jaguar on Tue, 08/23/2011 - 17:00
in

A charming NZ hate song for a real estate agent, which you can download from Underneath The Radar or Tono & The Finance Company's bandcamp. 

Here's a live busking version:

The guitar pop format and the references to specific NZ locations & things ("Those Franklin Road fairy lights") could easily bring comparison to The Front Lawn or The Mutton Birds. My first thought was actually The Smiths (the cheery sarcasm of lines like "Marion it must be great to be a real estate agent / Marion I hope you get a wonderful sleep" reminded me of stuff like 'Frankly, Mr Shankly'), although the falsetto sing-along doo-doo-doos sound plenty like The Phoenix Foundation too. Hm.  (Enough parentheses yet?)

Tono and the Finance Company seems to largely be the vehicle for a singer and guitarist from Dunedin, Nyu Zullund. At time of writing there's an EP out, this single, and an album in the works.