Led by former Gordons guitarist
Alister Parker, noise rock unit
Bailter Space emerged from Christchurch, New Zealand in 1987. Originally comprised of former
Clean and
Great Unwashed drummer
Hamish Kilgour,
Pin Group alum
Ross Humphries on bass, and Glenda Bills on drums, the group issued its debut EP, Nelsh, on the famed Flying Nun label later that year; both Humphries and Bills departed soon after, resulting in the addition of former Gordons bassist
John Halvorsen in time to record the 1988 full-length
Tanker. A tour followed, but when
the Clean re-formed,
Kilgour joined them on a permanent basis; his replacement in
Bailter Space was
Brent McLachlan, also the drummer in
the Gordons.
Despite the restoration of
the Gordons' core roster, however,
Bailter Space were a clearly distinct entity, their sound more dense and imposing than in their previous incarnation; the trio resurfaced in 1990 with
Thermos, mounting a tour of the Northern Hemisphere the following year. An EP, The Aim, appeared in 1992, and in 1993
Bailter Space released
Robot World, their most acclaimed outing to date. Their prolific output continued with
Vortura (1994) and
Wammo (1995) and then slowed down for the last half of the decade, during which the group issued two albums for the Turnbuckle label:
Capsul (1997) and Solar.3 (1999). In 2004, during a protracted hiatus, Flying Nun issued a self-titled compilation. Eight years passed before the band released another album,
Strobosphere (Arch Hill, 2012), followed by
Trinine on Great Britain's
Fire Records label in October of 2013. ~ Jason Ankeny