The Dead C

The Dead C are a New Zealand music and art trio consisting of members Bruce Russell, Michael Morley and Robbie Yeats, formed in Dunedin. 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 musicians such as Thurston Moore and Pavement, as well as the post-rock acts Bardo Pond, Flying Saucer Attack and Labradford.

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 work for. They became known internationally through their releases on the Philadelphia record label Siltbreeze, especially the 1992 double LP Harsh 70s Reality. 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 festival (curated by Sonic Youth), 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

a 1500 copies made

b 450 copies made

Singles

External links

• with coverage of the fanzine era.
• at allmusic.com
• Aug. 2010