Whiz Kidz’s bio on Muzic.net.nz describes the Hamilton band as “pop with twists of ska, electronic, hip hop and rock”, which is pretty accurate. That sounds like the sort of band who would have been pretty fresh in the late ’90s, but in 2003 it’s all starting to sound a bit tired.
Their first single was the lively ska tune “Boyracer” from 2002, while “Fine Today” is has some of the electronica, rock and hip hop sounds in it.
The video takes its style cues from the version of 1950s American teen culture that was revived in the 1970s via films like American Graffiti and Grease, not to mention the almighty Sha Na Na. So it’s the 1950s via the 1970s via the 2000s.
Set at a party, the band play a group of nerds, and there’s also a gang of greaser dudes and a girl group who are like the Pink Ladies, only they’re wearing red.
So what goes on at such a party? Well, the punch is spiked (of course) and there’s a dance-off. The lead nerd goes for a stroll with one of the Red Ladies, who is told off by her gal pal (this is actually coming close to the plot of Grease 2).
More punch drinking and dancing ensues, then the nerds take to the stage and become Whiz Kidz, rocking the party with their ska, electronic, hip hop and rock sounds. The song has a brilliant chorus – incredibly uplifting and epic, so this part works really well.
In the end the nerdy guy gets the girl. But – just like in Grease and Grease 2 – the nerd only gets the cool person when they can prove they’re cool.
Whatever happened to Whiz Kidz? This was their one and only NZOA funded video. By 2006 they had changed their name to News of the World. Well, maybe now they’re known as The Sun on Sunday.
Best bit: the nerds’ concern for the guy who drinks too much and passes out.
Next… a shoop-shoop song.
Hey, it’s the Mint Chicks! This is where it feels like the last remains of the ’90s have dried up and fallen off and the richness of the ’00s can begin. And yes, let these Auckland art-school hooligans lead the way.
Hell hath no fury like a rap-rock artist scorned? So, there’s the Stylus dude sitting on the couch playing video cames with his girlfriend who is played by Anna Jullienne, who would very soon go on to play nurse Maia Jeffries on Shortland Street. Hanging out with a hot gamer girlfriend – this sounds like a pretty sweet life for a young dude, right? Wrong. He’s upset.
Auckland punk-arse punks Sommerset return with “Inside”, a rage against the claustrophobic lifestyle. The adventure begins with a loved-up young couple on a couch. This leads to footage of sperm swimming, and the next thing there’s a baby on the scene.
Salmonella Dub’s three previous videos have all been animations, which I always assume is the result of a band too busy touring to shoot a video in person. The other way of handling that dilemma is to shoot the video on the road, and that seems to be what the Dub has done for “Slide”.
Here’s Pluto sounding very cool, with hints of the Stone Roses and early U2. Far removed from the comedy world of 
Most enticingly, the YouTube description says this song was “featured on the hit TV series The Hills“. But “Saturated wasn’t listed on MTV’s official list of all the songs used on the popular scripted reality show, so I’ll never know if it was the Speidi love theme. Actually, given the that the main refrain is “let’s stay up all night”, the song was probably used for a scene where some characters – Speidi, perhaps – stayed up all night.
The video starts with Katchafire in a shed, performing a song about marijuana. I feel like this is the group’s default mode, and if you were to pay them a surprise visit at any time of day or night, they’d be in a shed performing a song about marijuana.
Kezia Barnett, the director of Goodshirt’s previous video