Tall Dwarfs are a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

rock band formed in 1981 by

Chris Knox Chris Knox (born 2 September 1952) is a New Zealand rock and roll musician, cartoonist and movie reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the g ...

and

Alec Bathgate Alec Bathgate is a New Zealand musician who was a key member of The Enemy and Toy Love, as well as being one half of the Flying Nun Records act Tall Dwarfs, alongside Chris Knox. In addition to playing guitar in these bands, he also releas ...

, who helped pioneer the

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

style of rock music. The duo were former members of

Toy Love Toy Love was a New Zealand new wave and punk rock band that originated in Dunedin and was active from 1978 to 1980. Members included Chris Knox, Alec Bathgate and Paul Kean. History Chris Knox was the band's front man and other members w ...

. The band lacked a drummer, but would use household objects and hand claps to act as

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

. Both members can play

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, with 12 strings and

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

often heard on their records. Both can play organ as well, which has been utilised on some of their songs. The

Casiotone Casiotone was a series of home electronic keyboards made by Casio in the early 1980s. Casio promoted the Casiotone 201 (CT-201) as "the first electronic keyboard with full-size keys that anyone could afford". The name "Casiotone" disappeared from ...

is frequently used too, especially on live concerts. Their debut was the EP ''Three Songs'' (1981), and for many years they released EPs only. The album '' Weeville'' (1990) was their first full-length album. They did, however, release a number of full-length compilations of their EPs, like '' Hello Cruel World'' and ''The Short and Sick of It''. In the liner notes to their album '' 3 EPs'' (1994) (released as a single CD, or as three vinyl EPs collected in one box), they asked for listeners' rhythm tracks: "Send us your idea of a great T.D. throb." The responses came from many different countries and were used for the next album, '' Stumpy'' (1997). This album was therefore officially credited to "International Tall Dwarfs." Bands who have claimed to be influenced by the Tall Dwarfs include

Elf Power Elf Power is an American indie rock band that originated in Athens, Georgia, United States. The line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Dave Wrathgabar, bassist Bryan Poole, and drummer Peter A ...

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie roc ...

and Olivia Tremor Control. In 2005, they did a small number of concerts in the US, playing with the Olivia Tremor Control.

Discography

References

External links

Audioculture profile

Flying Nun
– Flying Nun Records official website New Zealand indie rock groups Flying Nun Records artists Dunedin Sound musical groups {{NewZealand-band-stub