The Election EP goes live in Wellington

The Election EP goes live in Wellington; and our Electoral Commission decision is received

It's a noisy build-up to this election, that's for sure; and a group of Powertool Records' bands and friends are making some very lively live noise this Saturday September 6th at the Newtown Bowling Club, Wellington.

Celebrating the release of the 'Election EP' will be Gold Medal Famous, Vorn, Satan's Bellhops, Kedron Parker (Rough Church), the mysterious Glum (from Auckland), and hopefully an international Internet performance from Jordan Reyne; amidst the pleasures of very cheap drinks and and the great atmosphere of the famous Newtown Bowling Club - all for only $5 on the door.

We at Powertool Records – and our indefatigable artists – are not a team that sits still for long, especially when something big is looming. So we’re sticking it to the ballot box with the release of ‘The Election EP’: 8 artists with few stylistic similarities, but each with a passionate request that we vote – or at least think about what this election means to us.

The ‘Election EP’ contributors are: Gold Medal Famous – our original political band who came to infamy with their 2011 song ‘John Key is a Dick’, now reworked for 2014; ex-pat star Jordan Reyne; Wellington troubadour Mark Airlie; George Henderson and Matthew Bannister (something of a super-duo); our own #1 Dylan Fan Chris Rivers and his band Rivers Edge; performer extraordinaire Scarlett Lashes; and the anonymous Glum.

"The Election EP" Release party (Wellington)
featuring Gold Medal Famous, Glum, Vorn, Satan's Bellhops, Satan's Bellhops, Kedron Parker, Jordan Reyne (virtually)
Saturday September 6th, 8pm
Newtown Bowling Club
303 Mansfield St
Facebook event page

Electoral Commission: Advisory opinion
We've also received an advisory opinion from the Electoral Commission; in which they do consider the 'Election EP' to be an election advertisement, due to the content of some of the songs, combined with the artwork. The presence of anti-National/John Key songs appears to encourage voters not to vote for National; and the presence of the Glum song 'Vote Positive' also appears to encourage people to vote for Labour, as it share sits title with the Labour Party campaign slogan.

They do take into account that the variety of songs overall doesn't encourage people to vote for Labour, but when taken as a whole, with the artwork, that's how it could be perceived. From our standpoint, the songs cover a range of opinions from the various artists, and don't reflect a homogenous political stance.

We've been asked to change the title of the Glum song, and the EP cover art as well, which we will comply with.

The 'Election EP' will be available in its current form until 5pm Wednesday September 1 from the Powertool Records Bandcamp page.

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