Elias Carrick
Role: Provisions Steward & Field Chef Status: Present – Stationed at TPV Outpost Kitchen Bay 2 Individual Signifier: Loved to cook during electric storms
Underside of a Filing Cabinet
The Clean - Vehicle
LOG 088 – Duct-Taped to the Underside of a Filing Cabinet
Year: 1990
Origin: Dunedin, New Zealand
Condition: Sleeve split, but the vinyl's solid
Genres: Lo-fi pop / Antipodean jangle / Ramshackle radiowaves
We weren’t looking for this. It fell out while searching for something else — literally. Lodged between a stack of early Flying Nun EPs and a dusty DAT labelled “Student Radio ‘94”. The cover looked like it was drawn in a rush. Felt tip pen and scribbles. A car that might crash. We were already sold.
This is Vehicle, the full-length debut by The Clean — one of the most important bands you’ve probably never heard of if you grew up outside New Zealand. Lo-fi legends, responsible for the Dunedin Sound, and for showing an entire generation how to make magic with tape hiss and intuition.
Glorious Imperfection
There’s nothing perfect here. That’s the point. Vehicle opens with “Drawing to a Hole,” all wiry guitars, tumbling drums, and that unmistakable antipodean deadpan vocal. Songs don’t build — they unfold. Or fall apart. Or mutate mid-way through. Tracks like “Diamond Shine” and “Getting Older” are pop songs at heart, but they slouch toward melody like it’s optional.
Everything sounds recorded on the edge of chaos — amp buzzing, sticks slipping, vocals barely tethered. But that looseness is a feature, not a bug. This isn’t slacker rock. It’s sharp, intuitive, deceptively clever music that shrugs off studio polish in favour of honesty.
If Sonic Youth had grown up on beaches instead of subways, or if The Velvet Underground spent more time in garages than galleries — it might sound a bit like this.
Why TPV Cares
Because The Clean didn’t invent lo-fi indie, but they made it sound like freedom. You can hear the air in the room, the weather outside, the jokes between takes. It’s music made by humans, not perfectionists.
And it’s deeply influential. Without The Clean, there’s no Pavement, no Yo La Tengo, no Sebadoh. But this isn’t a footnote. Vehicle stands on its own — a jangly, tuneful, joyful mess of a record that invites you to join in rather than just admire.
Filed under: DIY pop / jangle punk / radio static you can hum
Recommended use: opening sets / headphones on buses / rebuilding your first guitar amp
TPV recommends Vehicle by The Clean. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
