Citizen Fish is a ska punk

Ska punk

Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...

 band that has been together since 1990. The band often makes strong social and political statements, dealing with themes such as anti-consumerism

Anti-consumerism

Anti-consumerism refers to the socio-political movement against the equating of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions...

, vegetarianism

Vegetarianism

Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...

, questioning the status quo

Status quo

Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...

, and encouraging people to get along with one another. The band is considered to be a side project of Subhumans

Subhumans

Subhumans may refer to:* Subhumans , featuring singer Dick Lucas*Subhumans , featuring singer Wimpy Roy and bass player Gerry Hannah...

 and both bands share several members.

History

Based around Bath, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, the original members were Dick Lucas

Dick Lucas

Dick Lucas is the British vocalist of the 1980s British anarcho-punk rock band Subhumans, whom he joined in September 1980, as well as the ska-punk band Citizen Fish, joined in 1990. Before that he had been vocalist in The Mental, from March 1979 to August 1980...

 (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

Subhumans (U.K. band)

The Subhumans are an English anarcho-punk band formed in the Warminster and Melksham area of Wiltshire in 1980. Dick Lucas joined later in the year, having formerly been in another local band, The Mental. Other members had been in The Stupid Humans...

. Jasper and Dick had previously played together in Culture Shock

Culture Shock (band)

Culture Shock was an anarcho-punk / ska punk band formed in Warminster, Wiltshire, England, in 1986 by Dick Lucas, previously of the Subhumans. Over their four year history the band played hundreds of gigs, including frequent appearances at free festivals, and released three studio albums on the...

. 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

Split album

A split album is a music album which includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There have been singles and EPs released in the same nature, which can be referred to as split singles and split EPs respectively...

 with the New York band Leftöver Crack

Leftöver Crack

Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of the ska punk band Choking Victim. Primarily playing an amalgam of ska and hardcore punk, they classify themselves as "crack-rocksteady". The band is currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords for CD releases, and...

.

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)
13. Habit (the same version from the Active Ingredients LP)
14. Phone In Sick (later released on CD on "What Time We On?")
15. Overheard
16. I Had To Guess (both songs only available on vinyl)
    • Active Ingredients (Lookout! Records
      Lookout! Records
      -History:Larry Livermore and David Hayes formed the label in 1987. From the start, Lookout released punk rock records, but over time expanded its scope to include various types of pop rock, reggae fusion, acoustic rock, pop punk, and indie rock...
      
       #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
      Leftöver Crack
      Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of the ska punk band Choking Victim. Primarily playing an amalgam of ska and hardcore punk, they classify themselves as "crack-rocksteady". The band is currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords for CD releases, and...
      
       (Fat Wreck Chords
      Fat Wreck Chords
      Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....
      
       FAT-226, 2006)
    • Deadline
      Deadline (split album)
      Deadline is a split album released in 2007 on Alternative Tentacles Records and Fat Wreck Chords.The album features 15 songs from the 2 bands, Leftöver Crack and Citizen Fish. Each band covers two songs. Citizen Fish covers "Money" by Choking Victim, and "Clear Channel " by Leftöver Crack...
      
       split album with Leftöver Crack
      Leftöver Crack
      Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of the ska punk band Choking Victim. Primarily playing an amalgam of ska and hardcore punk, they classify themselves as "crack-rocksteady". The band is currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords for CD releases, and...
      
       (Fat Wreck Chords
      Fat Wreck Chords
      Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....
      
      , 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
  Lookout! Records
  -History:Larry Livermore and David Hayes formed the label in 1987. From the start, Lookout released punk rock records, but over time expanded its scope to include various types of pop rock, reggae fusion, acoustic rock, pop punk, and indie rock...
  
  , 1996)
• This Is The A.L.F. (Mortarhate Records, 1998)
• Forward Till Death (Lookout! Records
  Lookout! Records
  -History:Larry Livermore and David Hayes formed the label in 1987. From the start, Lookout released punk rock records, but over time expanded its scope to include various types of pop rock, reggae fusion, acoustic rock, pop punk, and indie rock...
  
  , 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
  Geykido Comet Records
  Geykido Comet Records began as a small and humble bedroom operation in 1998 seeing the first release in January 1999: Intro5pect 7-inch EP "Education"....
  
  , 2000)
• This Are UK Ska, Volume (Do The Dog Records, 2001)

External links

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