Jools and Lynda Topp are quick witted, buzz-cutted trailblazers whose rousing harmonies have provided the soundtrack to contemporary social and political activism in New Zealand.
They made a name for themselves as poster girls for political reform by crafting catchy ditties about progressive issues such as a Nuclear-free NZ, Maori land rights, and Homosexual Law Reform, with a preparedness to front the picket lines when the occasion warranted it.
The Topp Twins’ folksy charm and cabaret-style anarchy has made them national treasures in their homeland, where they play to packed community halls and high society soirees. Whilst their brand of humour is uniquely Kiwi, their witty wordplay and spot-on characterisations have won them a small but dedicated following around the world; their polyester-clad Kens, Camp Mother & Camp Leader, Bowling Ladies and Socialites, regularly 'cross the ditch’ to Australian comedy venues, and they are regulars at festivals throughout Europe and North America.
A Topp Twins trademark is their ability to extract humour from even the darkest topics, from political injustice to their own mortality; scenes depicting Jools’ recent battle with breast cancer pack a wallop but the twins cope as best they know how, with self-deprecation and song.
To mark the sisters’ 50th birthday, filmmaker Leanne Pooley has crafted a film that is part career retrospective, part social history doc. Untouchable Girls is a fascinating, hilarious 84 minutes with two genuine – and genuinely funny – women.
The central framework of the film is a 'This is your Life’-style concert performed for an audience of their nearest and dearest, interspersed by one-on-one interviews with Lynda and Jools, their assorted alter egos, and their parents and partners. Though the concert was staged for the cameras, this storytelling method lets The Topp Twins’ story unfold organically, and proves that the twins are still the feisty livewires they were 30 years ago when they left the family farm to earn a crust busking on the streets of Auckland.
A number of community elders and activists (such as firebrand troubadour Billy Bragg) celebrate the sisters’ knack for subversion, and even former PM Helen Clarke pops in for a testimonial that removes any doubts about the mainstream appeal of the two yodelling lesbians from Waikato.
