Ba Da Bing! US Vinyl & CDs

Review: The Dead C formed in New Zealand in the mid-80s and they remain one of the boldest bands to have emerged from the island's underground scene. Taking a supremely lo-fi, scuzzy approach to improvised rock, they've remained an enduring force with an international fan base as evidenced by their presence on Brooklyn label Ba Da Bing! Now that label are reissuing some of their earlier, hard to find work including this monolithic three-track entity, The Operation of the Sonne. It's a tangled, disorienting affair in which the guitar barely squawks through the thick layer of noise, but it's present enough to wrap around your skull and hold on tight. Not for the feint hearted by any means, but if you appreciate unbound free improvisation and noise rock, you'll definitely want to check this.

Review: After the squalling attack of The Operation of the Sonne and The White House, New Zealand noise rock provocateurs The Dead C had someone garnered attention and praise in 90s underground circles. In appropriately discordant fashion, they responded to their status of sorts by barrelling even further into obtuse noise and creating a double album's worth of sprawling, degraded epics. Despite their clear desire to not capitalise on recognition, there are some sharp hooks which would help the wider alternative rock landscape latch on, whether it's the tense, teasing drumming of 'Half' or the dissolving anti-anthem buried in the grimy folds of the title track. Ba Da Bing! take pride in delivering just the right kind of remaster and reissue for this and the other seminal Dead C records - a document of true originality and the gnarliest of noise bands.

Review: New Zealand's foremost, fearless noise rock outfit The Dead C transmitted their dirt-caked sound to the world through a trio of albums in the 90s. Nowadays they're aligned with NYC label Ba Da Bing!, who deemed it high time these seminal slabs got a bigger audience. Originally recorded in the winter of 1994, The White House is a shade more direct than its gnarly predecessor The Operation of the Sonne, but only by a fraction. The trio's sound is pointedly inward looking and actively pursuing a fidelity which renders voice, guitar and drums as one coagulated beast. The fact it still kicks on the likes of 'Pitcher' despite this rejection of clarity is testament to the formidable playing and intent of the band, and perhaps the benefit of a fresh but considered remaster.