Graeme Jefferies, Messages from the Cakekitchen (side A)

In 1987, New Zealand's This Kind of Punishment released their final album, In the Same Room. A year later, Graeme Jefferies followed with his transitional solo album, Messages from the Cakekitchen. His later albums, made using the band name The Cakekitchen, included more overt rock elements such as solid rhythm sections and studio-quality recordings. This transitional album falls somewhere in between. The very primitive, willfully lo-fi sound resembles his earlier work with This Kind of Punishment. Melodic vocals and recognizable rock song structures have clearly been assimilated alongside the murk and haze. Some of the frenetic string playing literally leaps out between the hazy sound and somewhat delicate songs. The cover image is an early digital montage of photos—its relationship to the musical content seems tenuous at best.