shriekback Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Shriekback “Nemesis”

sfilzen — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 17:57:42 +0000

Shriekback “Nemesis” 1985. Island Records. 12″ single version of one of the best industrial dance/underground new wave songs from the 80′s. I loved – and still do – their ‘85 LP Oil and Gold on which the single version of “Nemesis” appears. The single went to #94 in the UK. The 12″ extended variant of “Nemesis” is longer, has a bigger industrial beat than the album version and some added extra effects. Both are amazing. The b-side has “Suck (live)” performed for the BBC at Hatfield Polytechnic (now University of Hertfordshire) in 1984. It leans a bit closer to 80′s new wave synthpop but still has a big industrial dance beat.

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Shriekback “Go Bang!”

sfilzen — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 15:05:06 +0000

Shriekback “Go Bang!” 1988. Their fifth studio album, Go Bang! still has the dark and somewhat menacing vocals that mark their unique sound, but it is decidedly more upbeat pop than Shriekback’s previous releases. Heavy-handed 80′s production with a lot more backing vocals (yeah yeah!), simulated horns and percussion lines that would feel at home on a Madonna album.

Go Bang! was recorded after the departure of bassist Dave Allen and, according to Allmusic reviewer Bill Cassel, singer and keyboardist Barry Andrews “appears at this time to have taken an unfortunate decision that Shriekback was really a party band, which makes for some embarrassing moments.” This includes the “shockingly dumb ‘Big Fun’ and, worst of all, ‘Get Down Tonight,’ a most regrettable KC and the Sunshine Band cover on which Andrews tragically attempts to rap.” (Though I do like Shriekback’s ability to take a ridiculously happy song and make it sound ominous.) (except the rap part) The best track is when Shriekback performs what they do best – haunting soundscapes with shadows of menace – on “Dust and Shadow.” “Nighttown” could have created a similar ambiance but the funky beat and overly bright keyboard solo kinda ruined it for me.

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Shriekback “Big Night Music”

sfilzen — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 19:21:07 +0000

Shriekback “Big Night Music” 1986, Island Records, their fourth full length LP release. The back cover states “Shriekback celebrate the blessed dark – the place where they were always most at home.” I would say it is definitely not as dark as their earlier releases, however – including delightful sounds of castanets and maracas in “Gunning for the Buddha” and a horn section of trumpet, trombone and tenor sax (and “an army of hateful quicas”) giving a decidedly jazz flavor on “Black Light Trap.”

That said, vocally and lyrically Shriekback remain masters of weaving a tapestry of forbidding and shadowy secrets. “Pretty Little Things” seems to indirectly reference “Faded Flowers” from their “Oil and Gold” LP (“Complicated as a flower, glamorous as anything, Dangerous and evanescent, yes oh yes those pretty things…”) yet musically is much perkier (marimbas!). One of my favorite things about Shriekback is their ability to sneak in science – and rhyme it! From “Oil and Gold,” of course, “Nemesis” mentions parthenogenesis, and on this release’s Side B we have “The Reptiles and I” –

Chromium, radium, nickel, iridium

gold and actinium

Arsenic, plutonium, neon,

molybdenum, zinc, iodine

Braking the elements

The reptiles and I…

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Voltage Records and Static Age Records in Asheville NC

sfilzen — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 22:04:55 +0000

Went to downtown Asheville today and hit Voltage Records and Static Age Records, scored a little bit of goth, a girlie Germs shirt and Andy Taylor 45.

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Shriekback “Oil and Gold”

sfilzen — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 20:29:35 +0000

Shriekback “Oil and Gold” 1985. Confession: this album is technically still “on loan” from a friend back in the summer of ‘86. Oops.

That summer was a pivotal one in so many ways and this album was one of many that provided its soundtrack. A small group of us, ages 14-17, spent June-August of ’85 at a dear friend’s house, hanging out, being teenagers and doing stupid teenager stuff that probably should have gotten us in trouble. But there were moments of just being happy (or possibly miserable), reveling in the music of the day. The album sleeve still holds one of those moments: at the top left corner there is a orange-ish streak of crud, which is a lasting pizza stain from when two friends and I were sitting behind the couch (??), eating our frozen pizza, playing with a guy’s pet rat and reading the lyrics.

Besides the (sort of) hit single “Nemesis,” there are other wonderful songs (“The Big Hush” “Faded Flowers”) on this record that still hold a timeless quality and an ambience of late, hot summer nights when life is dark, haunting and amazing.

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