The Front Lawn is a multi-award-winning, much-loved New Zealand
duo-turned-trio made up of Don McGlashan, Harry Sinclair and,
eventually, Jennifer Ward-Lealand. A 1980s variety act, The Front Lawn
was part of an Aotearoa/New Zealand alternative tradition of duos that
combine music, comedy, theatre and film. Their debut album Songs from
The Front Lawn (1989) distilled McGlashan and Sinclair's theatrical
stage show and their groundbreaking short films, Walkshort and The
Lounge Bar, while also thrusting the band into the burgeoning New
Zealand indie scene. The album is a snapshot of '80s New Zealand, a
turbulent, creative period for indie music, indie film and musical
theatre, celebrating local identity in new ways.
Starting with a social and cultural background of New Zealand in the
late 1970s, the book covers McGlashan and Sinclair's upbringing on
Auckland's North Shore, early artistic influences and overseas
experiences leading to the formation of the group. Much attention is
paid to the duo's philosophy, early performances, the process of
recording the album - including The Front Lawn's collaboration with
Wellington avant-garde/cabaret group Six Volts and the addition of
Jennifer Ward-Lealand as the group's third member - and analysis of each
of the album's 10 songs. In parting, Matthew Bannister discusses the
group's second and final album, More Songs from The Front Lawn, as
well as the individual members' subsequent artistic careers
