Citizen Fish

Citizen Fish
Citizen Fish in Manchester, 2008
Background information
Origin	Bath, England
Genres	Punk rock, ska punk
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Bluurg, Lookout!, Fat Wreck Chords, Alternative Tentacles
Associated acts	Culture Shock, Subhumans
Website	www.citizenfish.com
Members
Dick Lucas Jasper Phil Silas Roberto Miguel Jessica Minty Matt
Past members
Larry Trotsky

Citizen Fish is a ska punk band that has been together since 1990. The band often makes strong social and political statements, dealing with themes such as anti-consumerism, vegetarianism, questioning the status quo, and encouraging people to get along with one another. The band is considered to be a side project of Subhumans and both bands share several members.

History

Based around Bath, England, the original members were Dick Lucas (vocals/words), Jasper (bass), Trotsky (drums), and Larry (guitar). Following their first album, Free Souls in a Trapped Environment, Larry left the band and was replaced by Phil, who, along with Dick and Trotsky, had previously been a member of the Subhumans. Jasper and Dick had previously played together in Culture Shock. In July 2006, Silas replaced Trotsky on drums. In the following month, after a five year recording hiatus, the band returned to the studio to record songs for a split album with the New York band Leftöver Crack.

Discography

• Free Souls in a Trapped Environment (Bluurg Records Fish 24, 1990)

(Recorded at the Refuge 17–19 April 1990 and Southern Studios 7–10 June 1990)

1. Supermarket Song (2:43)
2. Break Into A Run/Rainbows (4:11)
3. Possession (1:56)
4. Small Scale Wars (3:44)
5. Home Economics (3:29)
6. Paint (1:03)
7. Talk Is Cheap (2:41)
8. Face Off/Youth (5:19)
9. Flesh And Blood (3:25)
10. Get Off The Phone (2:03)
11. Experiment Earth (2:15)
12. How To Write Ultimate Protest Songs (2:48)
13. Charity (4:37)

• Disposable Dream 7"(Bluurg Records Fish 27/Lookout! Records #60, 1992)

(Recorded and Mixed 2 October 1991 at White House Studio)

1. Disposable Dream
2. Flesh And Blood II ("IE NOT the other version on the 'Free Souls' LP") on the back cover

• Wider Than a Postcard (Bluurg Records, 1992)

(Recorded and Mixed at Southern Studios 21–28 November 1991)

1. Sink Or Swim (3:24)
2. Language Barrier (4:16)
3. Same Old 'Starving Millions' (2:43)
4. Conditional Silence (2:17)
5. Big Big House (3:30)
6. Mind Bomb (4:39)
7. Chili Pain (1:37)
8. Give Me Beethoven... (3:28)
9. Talk It Over (2:41)
10. Offended (3:40)
11. Central Nervous System (3:33)
12. Traffic Lights (2:17)
13. Smells Like Home (8:47)

• Live Fish (Live in Germany) (Bluurg Records Fish 28, 1992)
• Citizen Fish/AOS3 split EP (Bluurg Records Fish 29, 1992)
• Flinch (Bluurg Records Fish 31, 1993)

(Recorded 2-6, Mixed 11–13 August 1993 at St. Marks, London) (Additional musicians: "Alex and Jim from Bender on Trumpets"

1. T.V. Dinner (2:12)
2. Naked (2:46)
3. Small Talk (2:28)
4. Time Control (2:31)
5. Dividing Lines (2:34)
6. Media Men (3:29)
7. Bag Lady (2:33)
8. First Impressions (3:38)
9. Wet Cement (2:46)
10. Circular Vision (3:07)
11. Social Insecurity (3:17)
12. Invisible People (3:43)
13. Flinch (1:51)

• Millennia Madness (Bluurg Records Fish 34, Lookout! Records #123, 1995)

(Recorded and Mixed at St. Marks, London 28 March-6 April 1995) (Additional musicians: "Alex [Bender]-Trumpet. John [P.A.I.N.]-more Voice)

1. P.C. Musical Chairs (4:00)
2. Next Big Thing (2:41)
3. Can't Be Bothered (2:37)
4. 2000 And One (4:01)
5. Panic In The Supermarket (2:21)
6. Can't Complain (4:11)
7. Faster (2:45)
8. Phone In Sick (2:28)
9. Refugees Go West (2:34)
10. Backlash (5:58)
11. Friends (3:24)
12. Skin (3:34)

• Thirst (Lookout! Records #152, 1996)

(Recorded at River Studio, London 1–10 May 1996)

1. Feeding (2:40)
2. Popsongs (3:44)
3. City On A River (3:13)
4. Used To Work (2:30)
5. Plasticash (3:42)
6. Scene 496: Cafe In Melksham (3:06)
7. Words On Overtime (3:29)
8. Talk About The Weather (2:22)
9. Catholic Sex Confession (3:23)
10. Criminal (2:54)
11. What Charlie Said (3:19)
12. Fill Me Up (3:14)

• Psychological Background Reports (Bluurg Records, 1996) - collection rare and previously unreleased material
• Habit 7" (Lookout! Records, 1998)

1. Habit (the same version from the Active Ingredients LP)
2. Phone In Sick (later released on CD on "What Time We On?")
3. Overheard
4. I Had To Guess (both songs only available on vinyl)

• Active Ingredients (Lookout! Records #212, 1998)

(Recorded November 1998, Mixed January 1999 at Phil's Roadside Cafe, Warminster) (This is the first Citizen Fish album that was recorded without outside help. It was engineered by Phil, and mixed by Phil and Jasper, using Phil's 4-track machine)

1. Active Ingredients (2:35)
2. The B.O.B. Song (1:50)
3. Oslo (3:58)
4. Bitter And Twisted (3:16)
5. Digging A Hole (4:53)
6. Sacred Cows (2:18)
7. Pills (1:49)
8. Habit (3:31)
9. Isolated Incidents (4:53)
10. Barking (3:03)
11. Heard It All Before (4:26)
12. Deep Neuortic (2:55)
13. Not For Sale (3:57)

(This is also the first Citizen Fish album with a hidden track...going by the CD booklet, the song is called 'Breaking A Habit' and plays after "Not For Sale" on the same track.)

• Life Size (Honest Don's Old English Recordings, 2001)

1. Over The Fence (2:04)
2. Revolution (2:36)
3. Out Of Control (3:13)
4. Picture This (2:35)
5. Internal Release (2:25)
6. Autographs (4:22)
7. Back To Zero (2:36)
8. Choice Of Viewing (3:11)
9. Lose The Instructions (1:56)
10. Somewhere To Go (3:22)
11. Shrink The Distance (4:13)
12. Will Swap (2:53)

• What Time We On? Live Album, (Bluurg Records Fish 47, 2006)

(This CD is a live compilation, from the years 1992-1998. Compiled by Jasper)

1. Used To Work (2:16)
2. Next Big Thing (2:36)
3. 2000 And One (3:31) (All recorded at the Living Room in Santa Barbara, 1 May 1997)
4. Phone In Sick (2:23) (Version from the "Habit" 7". Recorded at Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco, 22 June 1998)
5. Can't Complain (4:13) (Recorded at the Square, Harlow, 25 March 1995)
6. Smells Like Home (9:01)
7. Longbridge Deverill Stomp (1:22)
8. First Impressions (3:42)
9. Traffic Lights (2:42) (All recorded at Klupfel, Nurnberg, Germany, 27 September 1992)

(These songs could be part of the "Live Fish" cassette, but this is not known.)

1. Social Insecurity (3:05)
2. Fill Me Up (3:10)
3. Flinch (1:42)
4. Alienation (:32)
5. Skin (+happy birthday Trotsky) (3:54)
6. Not For Sale (3:42) (All recorded at St. Andrew's in Detroit, 22 June 1998)
7. Habit (3:26)
8. P.C. Musical Chairs (3:43)
9. Deep Neurotic (2:58) (S.F. Bottom of Hill)
10. Dividing Lines (2:34) (Santa Barbara)

• Baby-Punchers/Meltdown Split 7-inch EP with Leftöver Crack (Fat Wreck Chords FAT-226, 2006)
• Deadline split album with Leftöver Crack (Fat Wreck Chords, FAT-720, 2007)

[Citizen Fish's half] (Recorded 28–31 August 2006 at State Of Art, Bristol) New Citizen Fish line-up as listed in the CD booklet: Dick-Voice & Words Phil-Guitar Jasper-Bass & Voice Silas-Drums Alex-Trumpet Matt-Trombone (This album marks the first time that the Citizen Fish line-up has been listed as a whole band rather than a band with additional musicians who played on certain tracks. It can be inferred that the "new" Citizen Fish is a sextet with horns.)

1. Working On The Inside (2:43)
2. Money (2:01)
3. Meltdown (2:43) (The same version as the split 7")
4. Getting Used To It (2:30)
5. Back To Square One (3:00)
6. Join The Dots (3:08)
7. Clear Channel (Fuck Off) [Written as F*ck Off!!! on the back cover] (2:30)

• Goods (Studio Album, Alternative Tentacles - virus424, 2011)

1. Shelf Life (2:51)
2. Free Speech (4:10)
3. Human Conditioner (3:12)
4. Overseas (3:32)
5. Better (3:38)
6. Click (3:24)
7. How Far Does It Go? (3:01)
8. Insane (3:34)
9. Marker Pen (2:52)
10. Fearless (3:37)
11. Discomfort Zone (3:17)
12. Spotless (2:29)
13. Wake Up (4:06)

Compilations:

• Heide Sez... (Lookout! Records, 1996)
• This Is The A.L.F. (Mortarhate Records, 1998)
• Forward Till Death (Lookout! Records, 1999)
• Welcome To The Welfare State (BYO Records, BYO 66, 1999) Song: "Will Swap" (This is a different version from the one released on the Life Size LP)
• You Call This Music?! Volume 1 (Geykido Comet Records, 2000)
• This Are UK Ska, Volume (Do The Dog Records, 2001)

See also

• Punk ideology

External links

• Subhumans and Citizen Fish - official website
• Interview Dick Lucas from Citizen Fish from 1996