The Dead C are a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

music and art trio consisting of members Bruce Russell, Michael Morley and Robbie Yeats, formed in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

. Russell is a co-lead guitarist, Morley sings and plays guitar or laptop, and Yeats is a drummer. They have been variously praised and cited as an influence by

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

musicians such as

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...

and Pavement, as well as the

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

acts

Bardo Pond Bardo Pond are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1991, and who are currently signed to London-based label Fire Records. The current members are Michael Gibbons (guitar), John Gibbons (guitar), Isobel Sollenberger (flute and vocals), ...

Flying Saucer Attack Flying Saucer Attack is an English space rock band formed in Bristol in 1992, led by songwriter David Pearce. Rachel Brook (now Rachel Coe) of Movietone was a member during the band's early incarnation; Other musicians contributing to the gro ...

and

Labradford Labradford is an American post-rock group founded in 1992 in Richmond, Virginia.Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Labradford" in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 827 They have released six full albums from 1993 to 2001. Though not disban ...

Overview

The Dead C formed in Dunedin in 1987, following Morley's previous musical project Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos. Their first Auckland show was in 1989, by which point they had already released two albums on Flying Nun who Russell had been doing

copywriting Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called Copy (publishing), copy or sales copy, is written content t ...

work for. They became known internationally through their releases on the Philadelphia record label

Siltbreeze Siltbreeze is an American independent record label based in Philadelphia. It is known for its eclectic roster of artists and releases of experimental, noise, folk, and rock-based music. Founded in 1989 by Ohio native Tom Lax, the label evolved out ...

, especially the 1992 double LP ''

Harsh 70s Reality ''Harsh 70s Reality'' is the fourth studio album by The Dead C, released in 1992 by Siltbreeze. The opening track "Driver U.F.O." is performed over a recording of Douglas Lilburn's "Poem in Time of War". Side two closer "Suffer Bomb Damage" is ...

''. Their records are typically composed of improvised material, and are not recorded in a standard professional music studio; for instance, their 2000 self-titled album was largely recorded with a digital camcorder. The group performs infrequently outside of New Zealand, although they did travel to the US in March 2002 to perform at the

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released as the band's debut single in 1966. The song is from their 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the so ...

festival (curated by

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

), as well as shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco. They also performed for the first time in Europe in May 2004 at Le Weekend, a new music festival in Stirling, Scotland and returned to the UK to play at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival again in December 2006. In 2008, they played a short tour in the United States, and returned to the UK to play All Tomorrow's Parties in December 2010. In September 2016, they played a few US dates including Cropped Out festival in Louisville, Kentucky A compilation album covering their first 18 years entitled ''Vain Erudite and Stupid: Selected Works 1987-2005'' was released on the Ba Da Bing label in 2006.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Cassettes

Compilations

; Notes : 1500 copies made : 450 copies made

Singles

References

External links

Archive of the Dead C. fansite
with coverage of the fanzine era. * Biography and Discographyat allmusic.com
Michael Morley interview on MonsterFresh.com
Aug. 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dead C New Zealand indie rock groups Flying Nun Records artists New Zealand musical trios Free improvisation ensembles New Zealand experimental rock groups New Zealand post-rock groups Musical groups from Dunedin Musical groups established in 1986 1986 establishments in New Zealand Siltbreeze Records artists