Dead C - Harsh 70s Reality 2XLP [Siltbreeze]

Yeah, it's back! Royal Trux Twin Infinitives and Dead C's Harsh 70s Reality defined this 90s crash into post-everythingism just as solidly as Husker Du and the Minutemen did with Zen Arcade and Double Nickels On The Dime, respectively.

Essential New Zealand post-rock... the abstract moves these fellows made during this time away from pop melodies and crowd-pleasing changes still ring true. 

Siltbreeze describes thusly:
Originally seeing the light of day in April of 1992, Harsh 70s Reality was not just a high water mark for that year, but for the ages. Technically this was the band’s fourth long-play outing, and as a double-album, it followed two formidable dual juggernauts of the early 90's: Twin Infinitives and Lake. But it was Harsh 70s Reality that left the decade stronger and more resonant than it came in. A 2012 anniversary edition-replete w/gatefold jacket-came & went fairly quickly, so in 2023 it was agreed that it should stalk the earth yet again, this time akin to original packaging & viola; this time w/a flat matte jacket finish, insert + updated audio shepherding courtesy of Josh Stevenson (Cindy Lee, Famous Mammals, Puppet Wipes, Alastair Galbraith, etc). To hear it is to understand why one scribe back in the day referred to their sound as “a garbage truck backing over the abyss.”



Bandcamp user Eric F (not me) 
Back before the Beginning, LPs washed up on our shores, somehow carried across the oceans from distant lands. Then you would play Driver UFO on the FM radio in the just-past-twilight muggy summer night, letting the studio monitors vibrate with the thunder of sound, and with the hope that someone out there was listening, and feeling, too.