Play For Keeps Are Making Christchurch Indie Pop-Rock Impossible to Ignore

There’s a version of a band that overthinks their second single. Play For Keeps are not that band. ‘Presumptuous’ arrives with the same easy confidence as their debut ‘Handsome Boy’ — crunchy guitars, punchy drums, a driving bassline, and a chorus that lodges itself somewhere behind your eyes and refuses to budge.

The song is, by lead singer Simon Hart’s own admission, not trying to be anything it isn’t. “It’s nothing too deep — just a simple love song hoping the person you like vibes you too,” he says. “Hopefully it’s a motivation for anyone listening, to be brave and ask a person out.” That unpretentious clarity is part of what makes it work. The Ōtautahi five-piece have a knack for wrapping genuine warmth inside a hook, and ‘Presumptuous’ is another clean example of that.

Produced by Tom Healey — whose credits include Tiny Ruins, Marlon Williams, and Folk Bitch Trio — the track captures a band that know exactly what they’re about. Play For Keeps formed in 2023 out of a group of jazz school survivors who bonded over The Beths, Arcade Fire, and The War On Drugs. That combination of technical grounding and pure pop instinct is all over ‘Presumptuous,’ a song that sounds effortless without being lazy.

‘Handsome Boy,’ their debut single earlier this year, set a solid foundation — earning a Hit Pick on RDU’s weekly Top 10, landing on NZ on Air’s New Tracks for March, and picking up praise from Flash-Trax, who likened Simon Hart’s tenor to something between The La’s and the Boo Radleys, and from Graham Reid writing in The Listener. Not a bad start for a band in their first year under this name, having previously recorded and toured New Zealand as Ellie Oak in 2024.

Both singles will appear on their debut EP, due later this year and produced by Healey — the result of a successful fundraising campaign in 2025 that gave the band the means to see the project through properly. They’ve also been building their live reputation steadily, with sets at Go Live Festival, Nostalgia Festival, and Selwyn Council’s Music in the Park already under their belt this year.

There’s a lot of joy in this band, and ‘Presumptuous’ carries every bit of it.

Stream ‘Presumptuous’ here