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It’s 1pm and Nick from trendy NZ hotshots Cut Off Your Hands is wearily rolling out of bed for his first interview of the day. This is despite (or perhaps in light of) the fact that our phone conversation was meant to take place two hours earlier. When I apologise to Nick for screwing up his schedule, he laughs it off. “Mate,” he giggles, “It’s totally cool, I literally woke up about 20 minutes ago.” He then imparts his makeshift breakfast plans, “a whole lot of greasy stuff, ya know, eggs, bacon, toast, whatever’s around really” and then decides that because I’m also a musician, that this will be a good interview, a point which he proclaims early on in the piece. “Musical people can connect all over the world,” he explains “look at us, you’re in Sydney and I’m in Auckland and we’re already talking about The Shins…” Who says rockstar hedonism is dead?

Cut Off Your Hands have become the biggest thing to hit the indie-rock frying pan in a very long time. Starting off as a raw punk band, they have since added pop trimmings, not unlike The Shins, which has made their already infectious music more accessible to an even bigger audience. Case in point is debut EP Blue On Blue, which is selling bucketloads even though it has relatively no promotion as compared to other NZ artists like Scribe, and of course, perennial favourites Evermore.

“The New Zealand music scene is on fire at the moment,” says Nick, “We have the legions of fans who follow us all over the country and it’s just insane…” Now multiply that figure and that’s what happens when the Cutters (as they have been heard to be called in NZ, which may pose a problem for Cut Copy fans) hit places like Candy’s Apartment and Spectrum in Sydney. That’s right, utter mayhem.

Some people are bound to be reading this article and thinking, “I swear I know this goddamn band but they’re not called Cut Off Your Hands…” Well fear not ever-eager indie kids, you are in fact correct. Nick and the boys formerly went under the title of Shaky Hands, until some US major label decided to throw their collective weight at the boys and force them to change their moniker. “Look, it sucks,” sighs Nick, “But it’s happened to a lot of new bands recently. He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I’m into bands such as The Hate Game (formerly The Vendettas), Ghostwood (aka The Ghosts) and Lost Valentinos (I can’t even be bothered explaining the story there.) And when you add on the misery that has befallen brands like Ksubi, it starts to make you wonder if it wouldn’t be better if all bands just made up names like !!!. I mention this to Nick, who then gives me a long rambling epistle regarding the aforementioned, so-impossible-to-pronounce group at the awesomely fantastic Airwaves festival in Reykjavik of all places.

So having weathered the name-shift storm, where are the Cut Off Your Hands boys at right now? Well they’ve just been signed to the Levity label (see: uber-cool, indie, the Mercy Arms’ home and Levis offshoot), which can’t be anything short of fucking fantastic. “We haven’t gotten any free jeans yet,” confessed Nick “But I’m sure they’re coming somewhere down the line!” Maybe when the band goes platinum they’ll get an old pair of ratty Levis. “More like they’ll give us the keys to jeans city…” Take note, unsigned indie bands, this is a label you want to get yourself on. Having been in the office last week to interview the aforementioned Mercy Arms, you can tell that this is the kind of record deal that focuses purely on the music. And for Cut Off Your Hands, they are just the Australian end, having been picked up by similarly trendy Speak ‘n’ Spell records in NZ. And as for full artistic license? “We wouldn’t be signed to them if they didn’t give us the freedom to do what we want.” Nuff said.

There’s also an interesting story behind the inventive album cover on the Blue On Blue EP. Firstly, there are two different versions, a red and blue one. But if you pick up a copy, you’ll notice this really cool, but totally undecipherable dot pattern adorning the cover. I thought it was abstract art, and my COFA mate put money on Morse code. She was closer, it turns out “They’re Braille!” screams Nick down the phone, “How awesome is that?” I admit that I am suitably impressed; even though I am fully aware none of the Cut Off Your Hands boys are even remotely blind. Apparently, the Blue version reads Cut Off Your Hands while Red is Blue On Blue. As we talk, I immediately begin to make plans in my head to acquire my missing piece in the set. It feels like Pokemon all over again, something that cracks Nick up “Collect ‘em all man!”

Despite the fact that Cut Off Your Hands are a successful indie-rock band, Nick views his music as “heading more towards power-pop.” Since the name change, the mood of the band has definitely been a lighter one, as demonstrated by smile-filled tracks like Oh Girl. “If you have a good melody, there’s no need to be aggressive and metal and crap,” explains Nick. “Sure, we love our guitars and our distortion but we don’t use it unless it fits the music.” The press has embraced this musical maturation, as magazines nationwide have praised the new pop sensibility of Cut Off Your Hands, as well as their knack for a good melody. Some have even likened them to the forerunners of the genre like The Kinks. “It’s a very big compliment,” grins Nick down the line, “I hope we can live up to it.”

Cut Off Your Hands will return to our shores shortly to play a slew of shows with local heroes teenagersintokyo. This tour, “our biggest, like, ever!” will include stints at Spectrum, The Annandale and a free gig at Beach Rd Hotel, Bondi. Be sure to check out this powerful pop-punk-indie-rock-whatever outfit before they start charging exorbitant door charges. And if you get a pair of free Levis, be sure to let Nick know!

Cut Off Your Hands’ Blue On Blue is out now through Levity

Catch Cut Off Your Hands as they tour Australia in August and September, presented by Triple J and FasterLouder:

Thursday August 30: Transit Bar, Canberra
Friday August 31: Bar On the Hill, Newcastle Uni
Saturday September 1: Spectrum, Sydney
Sunday September 2: Annandale Hotel, Sydney (all ages, early show)
Sunday September 2: Beach Road Hotel (18+, late show)
Thursday September 6: Wolf Gang @ Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane
Friday September 7: Rocket Bar, Adelaide
Saturday September 8: The Tote, Melbourne
Friday September 14: Norfolk Basement, Fremantle
Saturday September 15 Amplifier Bar, Perth