By 1995, the Wellington punk scene had reached a significant low point. After the burst of activity in the early-to-mid 1990s, the scene had largely gone quiet, with only a small handful of active bands keeping things alive. The main local acts were Loosehead (Wellington) and Motorsheep from nearby Palmerston North, who released their 7” single “Pinochet/ Moisture” in July that year. Towards the end of the year, a new ska band called The Offbeats began playing shows, offering a fresh sound to the dwindling scene. A promising development was the emergence of Screaming Asylum Productions (named after the infamous Mount Victoria flat) , a group of dedicated punks who began organising shows with the explicit goal of revitalising the scene. Their efforts marked the beginning of what would become a central force in rebuilding Wellington’s punk community in the later half of the 1990s.
Despite the local slowdown, Wellington still hosted several notable international punk and hardcore tours. In March, San Francisco queercore band Pansy Division played at Antipodes on Cuba Street. In April, New York hardcore legends Sick Of It All performed two shows in Wellington on the 21st: an all-ages show at Thistle Hall and a night show at Antipodes. In August, the local crew Screaming Asylum Productions organised the New Zealand tour of San Francisco punk band Spitboy, with the Wellington show at Thistle Hall on August 3. In November, Canadian punk band NoMeansNo played Antipodes on the 19th alongside local supports Loosehead, The Warners, Jawload, and Hell Is Other People.
On a more disappointing note, Canadian band All You Can Eat had a New Zealand tour planned for November but were denied entry by immigration at the last minute. Meanwhile, former Wellington band SMUT (now based in Australia) continued to represent the city’s punk legacy overseas, with a track appearing on the Sydney punk compilation “Keep On Babble On”.
Overall, 1995 was a quiet, transitional year for Wellington punk — marked by low local activity but sustained by visiting international acts and the first sparks of organised revival efforts that would bear fruit in the years to come.
January
- January 20, Golden Ox Hotel, Redfern: Unclean, Oppressed Earth, Flycop, SMUT
March
- March 4, Antipodes: Pansy Division (USA)
April
- April 15, Thistle Hall: Balance, Motorsheep, Pacecar, Loosehead
- April 20, Squid (AK): Sick Of It All, Nefarious, Muckhole
- April 21, Thistle Hall: Sick Of It All
- April 21, Antipodes: Sick Of It All, State Of Hate, Nefarious
- April 22, Nitespot (NP): Sick Of It All, Sticky Filth, Nefarious
- April 23, Frankton (HAM): Sick Of It All, Control, Balance, Structure
- April 24, POD (AK): Sick Of It All, Nothing At All, Garden Shed
May
- May 20, Lewisham Hotel: Omnicide, A.I.M, Subversion, SMUT
July
- July 22, Motorsheep: Pinochet/ Moisture
August
- August 3, Thistle Hall: Spitboy (USA), Loosehead
- August 20, Feedback: SMUT, Bloodclot, Oppressed Earth, Repeat Offenders
September
- Sept 29, Victoria University: Normal Ball: The Offbeats, The Next Big Thing
November
- Nov 12, Antipodes: NoMeansNo (CAN), Loosehead, Warners, Jawload, Hell Is Other People
- Nov 19, Thistle Hall:
All You Can Eat(USA),Loosehead, Human,