Dead C, Harsh 70s Reality (side A)

Extended over four sides of a double-album, 1992's Harsh 70s Reality presents an impressively broad, but still unified, insight into the Dead C's distinctive vision, and its widely-recognized distinctiveness and impact has not dulled with time.  The album sides are structurally very diverse — the abstract and extended "Driver U.F.O." fills side A, while side B contains pop songs with vocals, including a take on the oddly-catchy "Sky".  Robbie Yates's drums sometimes propel the music forward as the most central element, and other times are entirely absent — he is also credited with guitar, noise, and vocal in the liner notes.  While the sound is consistently lo-fi and rough, it varies from the narrow mid-range frequency range of "Sea is Violet" to songs that at least fill more of its limited sonic spectrum.  The most impressive part might be how all of the diverse tracks manage to achieve coherence.  The unifying element, across the different compositional approaches, is the playing — it's always chaotically improvised within each structure, with the awkward and distinctive personalities on guitar of Michael Morley and Bruce Russell bringing a consistently familiar sound and feel.  While all three members, and even guest Jean George, contribute vocals, the delivery and recording remains instantly recognizable, and also helps pull the album together as tracks change in style around these performances.  The stark black-and-white pattern on the cover and insert fits the music perfectly — it's both abstract and recognizable, confusing and engaging.