Avant-garde meets lo-fi meets prog meets pop. This is music filled with surprises.
Early this morning I was blindly clicking on interesting looking album covers on Bandcamp. I do that a lot as a way to randomly discover new music. It usually doesn’t work, or it can take many, many clicks to strike gold. Not today. On my second try I stumbled upon ‘prog flower – 84 hot dogs‘ (2026) by frog power. An intentionally unrefined and weird collection of musical experimentation spearheaded by New Zealand artist Jeremy Potts.
Weirdness is in my wheelhouse and this is more than delightfully so. Potts runs pop music sensibility thru a wood chipper and somehow comes out with a whole new tree on the other end. Upside down, turned around, and inside out. Staticky guitar, manipulated sounds, distorted vocals and drums that are somehow both overdriven yet low in the mix. The final sound is raw, loose, and peculiar.
While the music is clearly off-kilter by design, it in no way sounds contrived. It’s like we’re being invited to tour the mind of the creator, witnessing his process unfiltered and unbothered. It feels oddly natural despite clearly being extraterrestrial. Avant-garde meets lo-fi meets prog meets pop. This is music filled with surprises. As is the artist himself. It’s not easy to track down any detailed biographical info on Potts other than his strange music and quirky drawings. And I guess that’s the whole point. Let the art speak for itself.
I did find this very bizarre 2025 video from ‘Midnight Music Review in the Attic‘. The interviewer’s forced, artificial voice over is clearly detached from the so-called interview. Still it is a gem because we get a glimpse into not only Potts’s artistic process, but the art of those who inspired him. Then he takes us into his cramped and dishevelled recording studio which is a perfect metaphor for his music.
“Literally I’ve been smashing the fuck out of that whammy bar for about six years and I haven’t had to tune the guitar once.” ~ Jeremy Potts ‘frog power’
Potts hails from just outside the city of Dunedin in New Zealand which was home to a vibrant indie music scene some forty years ago. This is something I can relate to as my city of Hoboken, NJ also had a thriving music scene decades ago. As far as I can tell, Dunedin still enjoys a tight knit and loyal music scene today (according to Google, anyway), albeit scaled back from its heyday. While the Hoboken scene is all but gone.
‘prog flower – 84 hot dogs‘ by frog power — along with an impressive back catalog — is available on Bandcamp. You can name your own price at checkout. Please show your support for this truly unique and creative artist.
Cheers!
Stephen
Bandcamp -> frogpower.bandcamp.com
