Shriekback S & D

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I loved these guys from the instant I heard "Nemesis" but it was revelatory buying Oil and Gold hearing the 1-2-3 punch of "Malaria"/"Everything That Rises Must Converge"/"Fish Below The Ice" for the first time. That is easily one of my favorite albums.

Also, eels + green feathers on that album cover, so awesome.

The high points of Jam Science are a little higher, but Oil & Gold is better front to back.

I loved these guys from the instant I heard "Nemesis" but it was revelatory buying Oil and Gold hearing the 1-2-3 punch of "Malaria"/"Everything That Rises Must Converge"/"Fish Below The Ice" for the first time. That is easily one of my favorite albums.

when it was new-ish I would routinely listen to it and wonder: like, why isn't this huge? me & my friend Allyson thought it was pretty much the best album in the world, and they played "Nemesis" in the Portland club where I danced, but it seemed like it never really got a head of steam under it.

I'm living in a neon house
I'm living on avalanche row
I'm living in hangover city

AND ALL THESE UNFORESEEN THINGS TUMBLE DOWN

WE HAD SOME GOOD MACHINES. BUT THEY DON'T WORK NO MORE.

2 B THE DALEKS OF GOD.

I used to bawl like an emo to that jam Jon L, fuck yeah

also much love to these guys for introducing me to the word "parthenogenesis"

Yeah, Oil & Gold and Big Night Music were both languish-in-bedroom soundtracks for me too. Also i had just got my first four track and I tried so mawkishly to imitate their 'tiny bells' and 'clicking sticks' trip...

I do think 'Nemesis' achieved a pretty good saturation level. Most people I know who were awake in the 80s know that song.

But the albums, and the Shrieks in general, there was just no way to sell megaunits of that kind of wry perversion.

Here's where I opine that about half of Sacred City is brilliant and it's well worth the $0.99 for a used Amazon copy...

man I'm listening to "Faded Flowers" now & it's clear to me the debt I owe these cats for some of how I write, not sayin I'm as good as some of these jams (if yr mileage varies bless you, just clarifying) but I can hear the moves I copped from some of the jump-disjuncture points

We used "Coelocanth" as intro music for one of our school projects in high school ^_^

It was a v v heady liquor for a few Shriek albums there. I guess Barry Andrews kind of tried to 'patent' it a bit after that, to mixed results, but I still cut the later stuff a lotta slack.

J0hn my best friend t0m h4rt is a huge longtime stan of yrs and yr music writing is super fab, so I really hope to catch up on yr oeuvre sometime soon. Just gotta remember that when my eMu credits next refresh...

oh man tom h is the fuckin best! I always assume he is mad at me, we fell out of touch & I am neurotic

mainly just sitting here stanning out to shriekback on youtube now tbh

Naw he still <3's you dude. He's abt to have his 1st kid and he's got a new strip he's serializing on the Act-i-vate comix site.

He reviewed yr Sab book for C0mic5 J0urn4l but I don't think it's been printed yet...

Does video for nemesis have eels y/n

I never gave these guys a shot, in part because the combination of pedigrees didn't do much for me (love GO4 though). Thanks, J0hn and Dan -- "Faded Flowers" is pretty great.

Alfred if you get to wanting to backtrack a bit, track down 'Hand On My Heart' and 'Party Line' off the previous alb.

1st three albums are so good, Oil & Gold is a best-of-the-80's for me. I recently got a German pressing with a different cover, I should listen to that soon.

The odd post-punk-funk of the debut, "Care", seems really unique to me. Dave Allen's the master at the unfunky funk bass. I think it's all on "The Y Record Years" which is why I recommend that comp.

No blood, no guts, no brains at all!!

hi these guys own

so much so much

New album, "Life In The Loading Bay" coming soon!

<3

Have heard. I think I preferred Glory Bumps, but this band's current output is totally slept on. Like an industrial Nick Cave at a devil's banquet, menacing yet decadent.

Loading Bay is pretty damn good. Dare I say their best since Big Night Music. Carl marsh back in the fold.

Yeah, Carl's two vocal tracks are brilliant and insidiously catchy! I still have a great fondness for "Naked Apes And Pond Life", which appeared literally out of nowhere in 2000.

Would love to hear a remastered Oil & Gold, or just get the thing on vinyl.

First heard them (and was blown away) seeing Manhunter, with the long climax to "This Big Hush."

dug in the archives the other week as i had a memory of picking up Carls solo album (too much fun), but so far its location has eluded me (also, i'm not 100% i've actually got it !)

I can hook you up with that, though it's only marginally worth it.

"Flowers of Angst" has some insidious Oil & Gold-era catchiness to it despite having practically nothing else in common with that version of Shriekback

Agreed, it's one of my faves from the new album. Here's the latest on the 'deluxe' version from Malicious. This sort of thing really irks me as I wish they'd have told us this was coming in the first place:

SHRIEKBACK: VIDEO & TINNED EDITION
we're almost finished the shriekback video for flowers of angst from the album life in the loading bay - it's a maniacal mix of madnes, flowers and bloodshed and should be unleashed on youTube next week... the tinned edition of life in the loading bay will be available from monday 11th april, it'll have a bonus CDR of four extra tracks + four remixes, a cut-out & assemble loading bay theatre + assorted characters, a wallet of photos of loading bays through the ages/around the world and other assorted frippery...

WAHT carl marsh is back? And there's a new record?

This is why it's exciting to go on ILM hiatuses sometimes...

at the time of the release of oil & gold, i owned it on the strength of nemesis, but i don't think i ever really embraced the album then because i was uncomfortable with the overall aesthetic, especially all of the backup singers.

damn i was stupid. i've really enjoyed relistening to this lately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8nfFypyAQY&feature=related

I don't know if it's still available, but that limited version of "Life In The Loading Bay" is great, some fantastic stuff on the bonus disc like "My Vast Behavior", plus I got a CDr of pre-Shriekback recording (interesting but hardly critical).

how the f*ck has 'jam science' not been reissued yet.

after my recent OD'ing on early era simple minds, i have to say, that their stuff has not a patch on jam science when it comes to the use of future funk science.

i.e. jam science = one of the best albums ever.

simple as that.

suspect there must be licening issues as they have recently sorted out te inferior 'oil and gold'

this band.
this band.
this band.

hand on my heart = all that is good about 80s leftfield pop. the bass. the synths. the backing singers. the weird ambience. the drum machine.

I go through phases where all I want to do is hear "All Lined Up" and "My Spine (Is The Bassline)" on endless repeat

yeah.
they had it totally locked down.
somewhere in the archive i have a live cd that they semi-officially released (i.e. available from barry direct .. )
going to have to dig it out tomorrow ..

also, they really pushed the whole era of major label budgets to the max.
the double 7"/12" packages.
the embossed sleeves (the fish !), the pic discs.
and yet, they still never got beyond their cult status ...
i do wonder what would have happened had they had a proper crossover hit a la simple minds ..

The probably wouldn't have released "Nemesis" as a single had they become properly popular

otoh maybe I could have heard "Malaria" played on the local top 40 station

interesting ...

i was thinking of them having a big hit post nemesis

i.e. that track laid the foundations of a big upswing in love for them ..

(well that and the love from michael mann .. )

I think ppl latched onto their cover of "Get Down Tonight" a little bit; that's the only post O&G song I can think of that would have had what I consider to be proper mainstream appeal

but then again I would have tried to get "The Only Thing That Shines" on the radio so I may not be the most reliable barometer of mainstream appeal

i hated that cover version ..

I like to pretend that entire album never happened

Isn't it time for a new album? Any word?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTvFRfTRWpY&fmt=22

Would you say the new peel disc is worth getting

I gather it will sell out soon

It's nice to have it all in one place, and it supports them, so - yeah.

Shriekback have a kickstarter going to fund the logistics of a world tour with the roster to include Barry, Carl, Martyn, Mike Cozzi, the Partridge sisters and a bassist who isn't dave allen. Basically the same lineup that toured Oil and Gold except for dave. I don't have the link handy but they are past the halfway mark.

here it is

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1283576192/shriekback-live

while i will always love this band, their recent money grab groove feels weird.
if you want to play a few gigs then play a few gigs.
fans who can sort things out will sort the rest out ..

It's East European, West European, it's moving so fast!

they met their goal and tickets for london glasgow and manchester go on sale tomorrow already. i would assume/hope more tba

Shriekback business:

Just out, new studio album "Why Anything? Why This?" First listen indicates it's solid but it needs more listens. Some tracks sounds like retreads of previous material, others are quite excellent like "And The Rain" led by Carl. No matter what, Martyn Barker is one of his generations best drummers.

Last year they put out "The Elated World", a compilation of fan-funded tracks. Some great bits, some instrumentals, worth hearing but not a critical addition to their canon.

In 2015 they released "The Island Of The Hopeful Monsters (Lost Demos From The 80's & The 90's)", which is what it says on the tin. Pretty inconsequential.

They've also put out a new live album from their 2017 tour and an old live album from 1987 but I didn't get those.

I wish they had a download store. I’m not quite at the level of wanting a physical copy of the new one and it’s not on bandcamp emusic etc.