Oil and Gold by Shriekback : Classic Eighties Music Review

Apocalyptic Thoughts and Evolution Make This Music Terrific

Sheri Fresonke Harper
In writing this classic '80s music review of Oil and Gold by Shriekback, I can't help thinking that little has changed in the world since the band Shriekback wrote these wonderful punk era songs. I fell in love with the album dancing nights at the Vogue in Seattle and have listened to it many times since then. The '80s CD sports the best of punk era angst in ten songs. The band consists of Barry Andrews (keyboards, synthesizers, vocals), Carl March (guitars, vocals), Dave Allen (bass), Martyn Barker (drums), Lu Edmonds (guitar).

A couple of songs on this album are my favorites and of the eighties and I expect continues to be favorites for those who've sampled it.

"Hammerheads" opens with the line "Our time has come". The music has a driving bongo drumbeat clashing with an almost Arabic horn that goes well with the dangerous feeling of swimming along with hammerheads wondering who is going to survive or not. The music is pretty consistent musically but the rhythms change dramatically as the album develops.

"This Big Hush" is one of the saddest love songs I've ever heard. You have great lines sang in a quiet almost hushed tone, speaking of love and the fried end of the world.

"Everything that Rises Must Converge" is somewhat repetitive at times but pays homage to the tale by Flannery O'Connors.

"Coelocanth" reminds me always of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, with eerie tones, and seeming almost timeless. There's no words to this piece of music, but you can zone out well after all the more rocking pieces and ponder this ancient fish and the beginning of the world.

A few other songs like Malaria and Nemesis are more popular, but the ones I listed are personal favorites. This band arose and reached their height of success in this terrific eighties music album.

Where to Buy this Eighties Classic Album: Oil and Gold by Shriekback

Amazon

Target

CD Universe

Artist Direct

iTunes

Published by Sheri Fresonke Harper

Sheri works as a freelance writer, novelist and poet. She worked in the aviation industry at the Port of Seattle and Boeing Company for 20 years as a systems analyst/architect where she edited and wrote over...   View profile

  • This classic eighties music features a driving bongo beat.
  • Hammerheads and Coelocanth makes you think about evolution on this '80s CD.
  • This Big Hush is one of the saddest love songs I heard in the eighties.
Four years after the "discovery" of the second coelacanth, Eric Hunt disappeared at sea after his schooner ran aground on the reefs of the Geyser Bank between the Comoros and Madagascar. He was never found.

19 Comments

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  • Barbara Lee Norris 3/18/2009

    Great review! Thank you for comments on my work. I've been out-of-town on vacation, so couldn't read work from then. I'm back on track now. :)

  • 3lilangels 3/17/2009

    ;-);-)

  • Layla Lair 3/16/2009

    Enjoyed your article. I miss my 80's music.

  • Charlotte Kuchinsky 3/16/2009

    I wasn't into 80s music so don't know them. Thanks for the recommendation though.

  • Jennifer Wagner 3/16/2009

    I can honestly say I don't know them. In the 80's, I was into heavy metal and such. What can I say, I was a rebel. ;-)

  • Kay Whittenhauer 3/15/2009

    Thanks for this article. I've never heard of them- I was more of a glam-rock girl in the 80's.

  • Amanda Cartwright 3/15/2009

    Gee this brings back some memories...

  • Charlene Collins 3/15/2009

    ;)

  • Branwen66 3/15/2009

    Thanks for the memories...

  • C. Jeanne Heida 3/15/2009

    What memories :)

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