The Plunderers (band)

The Plunderers
OriginCanberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
GenresRock
Years active1984 (1984)–1995 (1995)
LabelsRattlesnake, Green Fez, Citadel, Half A Cow
Past membersNic Dalton
Lindsay Dunbar
Stevie Plunder
Peter Velzen
Andy Lewis
Geoff Milne
Elmo Reed

The Plunderers were an Australian band which formed in May 1984 in Canberra. The group's founding mainstays were Nic Dalton on bass guitar and vocals and Stevie Plunder (born Anthony Hayes) on guitar and vocals. The group issued three mini-albums, Trust Us (June 1988), Sarah's not Falling in Love (April 1990), and Home Movie (1992); a live album, 13.7.91 Live! Live! Live! (1991); and three albums, No Era Is Safe (1986), Half A Cow (1986), and Banana Smoothie Honey (1992). Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described their sound as "a punky brand of power pop that mixed frantic guitar riffs, sharp harmonies and diamond-hard pop melodies" before starting to "explore a more tripped-out kind of psychedelic revivalism". In 1989 Dalton and Plunder and their drummer, Geoff Milne, formed a side project, Hippy Dribble, playing their more psychedelic songs. In December 1990 the trio also formed Captain Denim to play "more laid-back songs mostly ... influenced by the likes of Buffalo Springfield, Country & Western and folk rock". Both these groups issued material including a split album, Silver Apples/Fade in 1994. In 1992, Dalton joined US band The Lemonheads and former Plunderers' keyboard player Andy Lewis and Plunder formed The Whitlams with Tim Freedman. Plunder died on 25 January 1996, at the age of 32 years and Lewis died on 12 February 2000, at the age of 33 years.