“Fish Below the Ice” by Shriekback

"Fish Below the Ice" was one of two singles Shriekback pulled from Oil and Gold, their fourth album, released in 1985 on Arista in Britain and Island in the States, and it crept into the UK chart at 88, a few places above "Nemesis", the other single, which became the band's signature song. All four credited writers play on it: Dave Allen on bass, Barry Andrews on keyboards, Carl Marsh on guitar and newcomer Martyn Barker on drums, bongos and synthesizer, with fellow recruit Lu Edmonds on guitar. Andrews produced; Clare Torry sings backup.

The album caught the band mid-mutation, sliding from funk-flavored new wave toward something darker and more difficult, the new blood adding a harder edge. It was also the hinge between the founding trio and the Andrews-led records that followed: Marsh left once the recording was done.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.