Sharkboy are an

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band from

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, England, formed in the early 1990s by Avy, the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist. They released two albums in the mid-1990s and the current outfit consists of 3 of the original members: Avy,

Adrian Oxaal Adrian Oxaal (born 20 March 1965) is an American-born English musician and music educator, best known for being the lead guitarist in James 1997–2002 and 2015–present. He has also played with the bands Sharkboy, Oysterband and Goat. Biogr ...

and Dil Davies.

History

The band was formed in the early 1990s by the Preston-born Avy (vocals, guitar), recruiting American-born Oxaal (guitar, cello, keyboards) and multi-instrumentalist Gavin Cheyne on bass.Strong, Martin C. (1999) ''The Great Alternative & Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 558Larkin, Colin (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Oxford University Press, , p. 386 The band signed to

Nude Records Nude Records is an independent record label, established in August 1991 in London. The label was set up and operated by Saul Galpern, who had previously worked with artists such as Simply Red, The Fall, Julian Cope, The Triffids, The Slits and ...

after being championed by

Brett Anderson Brett Lewis Anderson (born 29 September 1967) is an English singer best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he fronted The Tears with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler in 2004-2 ...

Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was fir ...

and released their debut album ''Matinee'' in 1994, which was described by ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'' as "moody aggression with bite", and by

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

writer Ned Raggett as "an enjoyable, moody debut".Taraska, Julie (1995)
Sharkboy ''Matinee''
, ''

'', March 1995, p. 41, retrieved 2012-05-01 Everett True wrote in Melody Maker that Matinee possessed ‘a sensuous collage of sounds which plays havoc with the emotions’. Original members included Toby Shippey (trumpet), Dil Davies (drums, percussion) Alan Stirner (guitar) and Nick Wilson (keyboards, trumpet, percussion). Four singles in 1995 preceded the band's second album, ''The Valentine Tapes'', which included Dickon Hinchcliffe of

Tindersticks Tindersticks are an English alternative rock band formed in Nottingham in 1991. They released six albums before singer Stuart A. Staples embarked on a solo career. The band reunited briefly in 2006 and more permanently the following year. Th ...

on violin. The band carried on in various forms, including drummer

Steve Hewitt Steven James Hewitt (born 22 March 1971) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the frontman of his own band, Love Amongst Ruin. Hewitt is best known for his tenure as the drummer for Placebo between September 1996 ...

joining the outfit following the departure of Dil Davies. They released a limited edition 500 vinyl boxed set featuring cover versions of lounge classics and a thrash feedback version of the

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...

penned " Je t'aime... moi non plus" which remains a rarity. Following the demobbing of original members after the second album's release, Avy, Adrian Oxaal and Jessica Fischer (bass/cello) played to appreciative audiences in New York and Los Angeles in 1997. Oxaal went on to join

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

. Toby Shippey is a founder member of

Salsa Celtica Salsa Celtica are a Scottish group that plays a fusion of salsa music with traditional Scottish instruments, including elements of folk and jazz. History Salsa Celtica was formed in 1995 by Scottish jazz and folk musicians. In 1997 they visite ...

. Steve Hewitt joined

Placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general ...

before going on to form his own band

Love Amongst Ruin Love Amongst Ruin are an English rock supergroup, led by Steve Hewitt after his tenure as the drummer for Placebo. The band released their self-titled debut album in September 2010 and second album ''Lose Your Way'' was released in June 2015. ...

. Avy’s work continues on soundtracks to her animated stop motion films, including the award-winnin

he story of her stepfathers boyhood in wartime London. A new album / multi-media release titled BirdTown is being recorded for release in 2023.

Musical style

The band has been compared to My Bloody Valentine (band), My Bloody Valentine,

Mazzy Star Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Santa Monica, California, from remnants of the group Opal. Founding member David Roback's friend Hope Sandoval became the group's vocalist when Kendra Smith left Opal. Mazzy Star ...

Drugstore A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacis ...

, Tindersticks, and

Mojave 3 Mojave 3 were a British rock band consisting of former Slowdive members Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar), Rachel Goswell (vocals, guitar) and Ian McCutcheon (drums) alongside keyboardist Alan Forrester and former Chapterhouse guitarist Simon Rowe ...

.Raggett, Ned
''Matinee'' Review
,

, retrieved 2012-01-05 On the band's second album, Allmusic identified a "blend of country, blues, post-punk textures".Raggett, Ned
''The Valentine Tapes'' Review
,

, retrieved 2012-05-01

Discography

Albums

*''Matinee'' (1994),

Nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

*''The Valentine Tapes'' (1995), Nude *Spell (2018) Firehorse! Recordings

Singles

*"Crystaline" (1993), Nude *"Razor" (1994), Nude *"Big Black Jaguar" (1995), Nude *"Little Leopard" (1995), Nude *"My Magnetic Susan" (1995), Nude *"Tiny Seismic Night" (1995), Nude

References

{{Authority control English alternative rock groups Musical groups from Brighton and Hove Musical groups established in the 1990s Nude Records artists