Split Enz is a band that I put in a category called "unboxable". You can't put the music into any predefined or stereotyped box. It just is unique and is its own thing. This type of music is always timeless in my mind because it doesn't date by reference to the stereotypes we associate along with it. For example, think of Van Halen and you associate one squillion look and sound -a-like Van Halen rip off bands of that genre and your brain perceives late seventies to eighties hair rock played in stadiums etc. This often has little to do with Van Halen themselves but is merely a reference to a sound/vibe/fashion etc of a certain vintage. This perception happens so quickly and without being concious. Picture Nirvana you perceive 90's seattle, the Who swinging britain of the sixties etc etc etc. Yet Split Enz - and maybe this is just me and others on this board will have a different view - seem to be in my timeless unboxable category.
Are they good or bad? Dont know - but they are unboxable