Animals That Swim
| Animals That Swim | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Indie rock |
| Years active | 1989–2001, 2011–present |
| Labels | Beachheads In Space Che Trading Elemental Snowstorm |
| Members | Hugh Barker Hank Starrs Al Barker Del Crabtree Charlie Luciano |
| Past members | Dave Harris (1991) Lenie Mets (1991-93) Anthony Coote (1993-96) Terry de Castro (2000-01) |
Animals That Swim are a musical group who formed in London, England, 1989, with a line-up of stand-up drums, piano, trumpet and "a nifty line in clever narrative lyrics". In March 2011 they recorded two new songs for online release, originally intended as the first tracks from an as yet untitled album.
The band was initially formed by brothers Hugh Barker and Hank Starrs (born Jeffrey Barker), before adding a third brother to the line-up, Al Barker, along with Del Crabtree, initially on bass guitar, followed by the trumpet. Throughout their history, the group had numerous bass players; Charlie Luciano (original line-up), then Crabtree, Dave Harris (1991), Lenie Mets (1991–93), Anthony Coote (1993-6) and Terry De Castro (2000–01).
Animals That Swim released their debut single, "King Beer", in 1992 via their own Beachheads In Space record label. It was a 7" vinyl-only release, limited to just 300 copies. Their second single, "Roy" (which took the form of an imaginary conversation with the ghost of Roy Orbison), was released the following year. This, along with their third single, "50 Dresses" - a 10" vinyl-only EP - helped the band come to wider attention as the group won critical acclaim for their mixture of "slice of life" lyrics and magic realism, and their distinctive use of the trumpet as a lead instrument.
Having had several single of the weeks in the UK's national music press, the band issued a further single in September, 1994, "Madame Yevonde", as a prelude to their debut album Workshy. The single's title, along with the album's sleeve art, both referenced the British photography pioneer of the same name. "Pink Carnations", a 5-track single, followed 6 months later, featuring an alternate version to the album mix. 'Workshy' was number 15 in the NME's list of best albums of 1994.
The band issued two albums on the Elemental label, but work on a third LP eventually ground to a halt after Elemental was taken over by One Little Indian in 1996. In 1999, a demo, "Dirt", was featured on a various artists EP on the independent Snowstorm label, which subsequently commissioned a third Animals That Swim album, some of which was recorded in producer Dare Mason's home. In a preview article for a gig at The Monarch, London on 9 August 2000, John Robinson, writing for The Guardian, commented on the band's comeback from a three-year absence;
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