Shriekback are an English rock band formed in 1981 in

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open ...

by Barry Andrews, formerly of

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing i ...

and

the League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...

(keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

(bass), with Carl Marsh, formerly of Out on Blue Six (guitars/vocals) soon added to the line-up. They were joined by

Martyn Barker Martyn Barker (born 14 September 1959, Merseyside, England) is an English drummer, percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer, best known as the drummer for Shriekback. He has also been a member of King Swamp, and worked with Ro ...

on drums in 1983. Their early music was a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

-influenced version of new wave and

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

, later moving towards

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ...

and always featuring "insidiously weird vocals".

History

Shriekback was originally formed in 1981 by Barry Andrews and Dave Allen, expanding to a trio with the addition of Carl Marsh.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, They enjoyed some success on the dance chart on their original Y Records label, and had a string of hits on the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the re ...

, while their debut album, ''

Care Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (relief agency), "Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere", an international aid and ...

'' (1983) was picked up by Warner in the United States. They left Y for

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

for 1984's '' Jam Science'', also recruiting drummer Martyn Barker. The album reached number 85 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, and "Hand on my Heart" was a number 52 UK single. They recorded the 1985 album ''

Oil and Gold ''Oil and Gold'' (1985) is the fourth full-length album by English musical group Shriekback, released on Arista Records in UK and Europe, Australia and New Zealand and on Island Records in the United States, The album is widely considered the ba ...

'' on Arista (released by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...

in the US). Marsh left Shriekback during the recording of ''Oil and Gold'' and was replaced on guitar by Mike Cozzi, with Andrews taking over lead vocals. Shriekback also left Arista and signed to Island Records for whom they recorded ''

Big Night Music ''Big Night Music'' is the fifth full-length Shriekback studio album, released in 1986. It spent six weeks on the ''Billboard'' album chart, peaking at number 145. after which Allen left to rejoin Gang of Four, and Shriekback remained a collaborative centered on Andrews. Allen would also go on to play in

King Swamp King Swamp was a British rock band, consisting of Walter Wray (vocals), Dave Allen (bass), Steve Halliwell (keyboards), Dominic Miller (guitar), and Martyn Barker (drums). The band was formed in 1988 in London, after Allen and Barker had part ...

and

The Elastic Purejoy The Elastic Purejoy was an alternative rock group active in the mid 1990s and led by English bassist-singer Dave Allen. Their work was released on Allen's World Domination Recordings World Domination Recordings was an indie rock record label f ...

. Marsh was also in the band Happyhead. After another album in 1988, ''

Go Bang! ''Go Bang!'' is the sixth studio album by Shriekback, released in 1988. It produced a significant number of ''Billboard'' modern rock hits, including "Get Down Tonight," "Intoxication," and "Shark Walk". Released after the departure of founding m ...

'', the band split up. Andrews continued working on other projects before re-forming Shriekback in 1992, although after the single "The Bastard Sons of Enoch" and album ''

Sacred City A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein th ...

'', there would be no further releases until '' Naked Apes and Pond Life'' (2000). Both Allen and Marsh returned to the studio to contribute to the recording of the 2003 release ''

Having a Moment Shriekback are an English rock band formed in 1981 in Kentish Town by Barry Andrews, formerly of XTC and the League of Gentlemen (keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of Gang of Four (bass), with Carl Marsh, formerly o ...

''. After ''Having a Moment'', Andrews recorded three albums for Malicious Damage (

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (bass). Their first album, '' Killing Joke'', was released ...

's original label) under the Shriekback moniker. Shriekback are still actively producing music and released the studio album, ''Why Anything? Why This?'', in May 2018. The same line-up of Andrews, Barker, and Marsh self-released their 15th studio album, ''Some Kinds of Light'', on 6 December 2019; ''1000 Books'' and ''Bowlahoola'' followed in 2021 and 2022.

Members

Other than those listed above, Shriekback members or contributors have included Luc van Acker, Linda Nevill, Emma Burnham, Brian Nevill, Pedro Ortiz, Clare Hirst, Lu Edmonds, Wendy and Sarah Partridge (from

Electric Guitars An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

), Steve Halliwell, Eve Moon,

Ivan Julian Ivan Julian (born June 26, 1955) is a guitarist, bassist and founding member of Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Lovelies. He has also performed with the Isley Brothers, The Clash, Matthew Sweet, The Bongos, Richard Barone, and Shriekback. ...

, Mike Cozzi, and Jessica Palin/Jose Fina Cupido.

In other media

Film director

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films '' Thief'' (1981) ...

was a fan of the band, and used several Shriekback songs in his films '' Manhunter'' and ''

Band of the Hand ''Band of the Hand'' is a 1986 American action crime neo noir thriller film directed by Paul Michael Glaser starring Stephen Lang, Leon Robinson, James Remar, Lauren Holly, and Laurence Fishburne. The film's score was composed and performed by ...

'' and in his television series ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...

''. Music composed by Shriekback is used as the theme song for the ''Squaring the Strange''

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

hosted by Benjamin Radford and

Pascual Romero Pascual H. Romero (born January 6, 1980) is an American musician, podcaster, television and film producer from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Previously based out of Los Angeles, California, he is the former vocalist of the death metal band Pathology an ...

. The duo selected it because of their fondness for music from the 1980s.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

Tench The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is ...

'' (1982) * ''

'' (1983), Y (UK Indie No. 7) * '' Jam Science'' (1984), Arista ( UK No. 85) * ''

'' (1985), Arista * ''

Big Night Music ''Big Night Music'' is the fifth full-length Shriekback studio album, released in 1986. It spent six weeks on the ''Billboard'' album chart, peaking at number 145.Go Bang! ''Go Bang!'' is the sixth studio album by Shriekback, released in 1988. It produced a significant number of ''Billboard'' modern rock hits, including "Get Down Tonight," "Intoxication," and "Shark Walk". Released after the departure of founding m ...

'' (1988), Island * ''

'' (1992), World Domination/Capitol * '' Naked Apes and Pond Life'' (2000), Mauve/Mushroom * ''Having a Moment'' (2003) * ''Cormorant'' (2005) * ''Glory Bumps'' (2007) * ''Life in the Loading Bay'' (December 2010) * ''Without Real String or Fish'' (March 2015) * ''Why Anything? Why This?'' (May 2018) * ''Some Kinds of Light'' (December 2019) * ''1000 Books'' (December 2021) * ''Bowlahoola'' (November 2022)

Compilations and live albums

* ''The Infinite (The Best of Shriekback)'' (1984), Kaz * ''Evolution - Best of Shriekback Vol. 2'' (1988), Kaz * ''The Dancing Years'' (1990), Island * ''Natural History - The Very Best of Shriekback'' (1994), Essential * ''Priests and Kannibals: The Best of Shriekback'' (1994), Arista * ''The Y Records Years'' (2000), Sanctuary * ''Aberrations 81-84'' (2001), Weatherbox * ''Vicissitudes'' (2002) (Shriekback.com Internet-only release) * ''2 Live Shows'' (2002) * ''Live at Hatfield'' (2002) * ''Secrets of the City'' (2002) (Shriekback.com Internet-only release) * ''Island of the Hopeful Monsters'' (2015) * ''Live at Park West, Chicago '87'' (2016) * ''Peel Sessions and Singularities'' (2016) * ''Big Live Band 2017'' (2017) * ''The Elated World'' (2017) (album of commissioned songs)

Singles and EPs

Video albums

* ''Jungle of the Senses'' (1987) Island Visual Arts

References

External links

Shriekback homepageThe Shriekback Pages
* Allmusic: Shriekbackbr>Trouser Press: Shriekback
* Shriekback's Billboard hitsbr>Malicious Damage RecordsInformation about the Shriekback tracks used in Michael Mann's ''Manhunter''
{{Authority control English post-punk music groups English new wave musical groups English rock music groups British supergroups Rock music supergroups New wave supergroups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 Musical groups reestablished in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Musical groups reestablished in 1999 Musical groups from the London Borough of Camden Arista Records artists Island Records artists Capitol Records artists