Cut Off Your Hands

Cut Off Your Hands (COYH) is an indie pop band from New Zealand influenced largely by post punk and indie pop groups such as The Smiths, Gang of Four, Orange Juice, Talking Heads, as well as NZ groups such as The Bats, Toy Love and The Clean.

The band (originally called Shaky Hands) formed in Auckland in 2006, originally comprising lead vocalist Nick Johnson, guitarist Michael Ramirez, bassist Philip Hadfield and drummer Brent Harris. The band released a number of EPs and in 2008 released their debut album You & I. In 2009, Michael Ramirez left the band, which lead Jonathan Lee to take his place.

In 2011, COYH released their follow-up album Hollow. The new album was self-produced at the Auckland abode of drummer Brent Harris’ parents, where the New Zealand natives previously recorded their debut EP in 2006. Everything from the moonlit melodies of Echo & the Bunnymen (“Nausea,” “Hollowed Out”) to the shimmering 12-string guitars of The Go-Betweens (“You Should Do Better”) can be heard in the light and dark shades of ‘Hollow’. There is a lot more to the "You & I” follow-up than meaty, melancholic hooks and riffs evocative of the great Johnny Marr.