Angelfish

Introduction

Angelfish was a Scottish alternative rock band, famous because Shirley Manson (Garbage) was part of it. It started as a continuation of the previous band "Goodbye Mr. Mckenzie", which also featured Shirley among their members.

The band only released one album called "Suffocate me" before Shirley left to form the band Garbage.

Members

Shirley Manson - Vocals
Martin Metcalf - Guitar
Fin Wilson - Bass
Derek Kelly - Drums

History

After "Goodbye Mr.Mckenzie" dissapeared, four of their six members founded "Angelfish".

The band started out with Shirley playing the same role she had on "Goodbye Mr Mckenzie", that is playing keyboard and backing vocals, but she soon replaced Martin as lead singer.

With Shirley as frontwoman, the band released their EP "Suffocate me" with four songs in 1993, which included two songs that later were included in their only album "Angelfish" in 1995, after they signed with Radioactive label.

Shirley took over the band, and her charisma made her the center of all the videos and she even standed alone in the cover of their only album. The album was released in USA, Europe and Japan.

The band gave concerts in the USA, Canada, France and Belgium.

It was thanks to an Angelfish video (Suffocate me) in MTV that Butch Vig decided to call Shirley and invite her to take part on his own band project, which ended up being no other than "Garbage".

After Shirley's departure Derek Kelly, Fin Wilson and Martin Metcalfe formed a new band, Isa & the Filthy Tongues with American singer Stacey Chavis. They released their last record on 2006.

Albums

The best tracks of the album are the single "Suffocate me", "King of the world" and "Heartbreak to hate". The tracks are instrumentally simple, just a few chords and the rest is pure lyrics, melody and attitude. Not bad for those are to be the rock origins. Shirley ended up doing what she does best: sing and lead the band on stage.

The guitars remind of Chuck Berry, but the overall sound is a little more muddy and obscure, with an alternative rock approach so intense in Shirley's voice and verses. Tracks resemble some of their own stories or things that happened to them, such as "Mummy can't drive", that tells the story of a woman who got so drunk in a pub that told her son to "Leave the car, mummy can't drive"... the child was only four years old!

The album is particularly interesting for Garbage fans that get the chance to listen to a yet unknown Shirley, whose voice was already great, and even hearing Angelfish you can almost get the feeling of the soon to arrive Garbage, specially on "Suffocate me" and "King of the world".

"Suffocate me" and "Heartbreak to hate" featured videos that were emitted through MTV by the time.

Angelfish (1995)

"Dogs in a Cage" - (2:33)
"Suffocate Me" - (3:40)
"You Can Love Her" - (3:48)
"King of the World" - (3:03)
"Sleep With Me" - (3:21)
"Heartbreak to Hate" - (4:15)
"The Sun Won't Shine" - (3:51)
"Mummy Can't Drive" - (3:26)
"Tomorrow Forever" - (3:29)
"The End" - (4:22)