Wednesday 21 July 2010

Fishy

For anyone interested in the further adventures of Dick Lucas, here's what I think is his best post-Culture Shock album to date; an album he made in 1991 with the band Citizen Fish: Wider Than a Postcard.

In some ways Dick returned to his roots with Citizen Fish, with echoes of The Subhumans in the band's sound and songs. But Dick could never veer too far away from the ska sound Culture Shock had developed, so Citizen Fish ended up sounding like a fusion between Dick's previous two bands - with a dash of Radical Dance Faction thrown in for good measure.

(Citizen Fish and RDF often featured on the same billing, and RDF's sound certainly rubbed off; the stretched out, dubby 'Smells Like Home' that closes Wider Than a Postcard is just so RDF [no bad thing in my opinion].)

But essentially Dick had got harder [!] his politics and his scorn were even more vitriolic.
The songs became heavier and the lyrics became discourse.

And whereas Culture Shock were always a dance band who did politics: Citizen Fish were a political band who did dance.
The audience tended to sit down when Citizen Fish played.

But you know how it is.
Anarchists never dance. Right!

Citizen Fish - Wider Than a Postcard (1991)

Sink or Swim
Language Barrier
Same Old 'Starving Millions'
Conditional Silence
Big Big house
Mind Bomb
Chili Pain
Give Me Beethoven
Talk It Over
Offended
Central Nervous System
Traffic Lights
Smells Like Home

Decent vinyl rip @320kbs
Fishy tales here

4 comments:

Dray said...

Damn fine blog you have here only just discovered it to my shame, really like the Little Feat post and the Glaxo Babies. Gotta work my way backwards....

roy rocket said...

Eclectic, huh?
It's the only way to be.
Enjoy.

Anonymous said...

here's a blast from the past... i thought i saw willy (will-he) dick the other day! H.K.H

roy rocket said...

Oo-er!
Can he now be considered for re-entry into the family of mammals?
Probably not, if you spotted him...