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 of Out on Blue Six (guitars/vocals) soon added to the line-up. They were joined by Martyn Barker on drums in 1983. Their early music was a funk-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 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, while their debut album, '' Care'' (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'' 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, an ...

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'' (1986), 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 and The Elastic Purejoy. Marsh was also in the band Happyhead. After another album in 1988, '' Go Bang!'', 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 sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

'', there would be no further releases until ''

Naked Apes and Pond Life ''Naked Apes and Pond Life'' is the eighth full-length album by Shriekback. The 2000 release was a surprise resurfacing for the band, after many years of quiet. It gathered many songs performed in intimate appearances in London over the preced ...

'' (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 of O ...

''. After ''Having a Moment'', Andrews recorded three albums for Malicious Damage ( Killing Joke'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), 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 Shriek ...

, 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 film director, director, screenwriter, and Film producer, producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include ...

was a fan of the band, and used several Shriekback songs in his films '' Manhunter'' and '' Band of the Hand'' and in his television series '' Miami Vice''. 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 choosing ...

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 ...

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

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Tench'' (1982) * '' Care'' (1983), Y (UK Indie No. 7) * '' Jam Science'' (1984), Arista ( UK No. 85) * '' Oil and Gold'' (1985), Arista * '' Big Night Music'' (1986), Island * '' Go Bang!'' (1988), Island * ''

'' (1992), World Domination/Capitol * ''

'' (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