The Deep Freeze Mice were an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
new wave band active between 1979 and 1989.
They were based in
Leicester, England, and consisted of the core members Alan Jenkins (
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
s and singing), Sherree Lawrence (
combo organ
A combo organ, so-named and classified by popular culture due to its original intended use by small, touring jazz, pop and dance groups known as "combo bands", as well as some models having "Combo" as part of their brand or model names, is an elect ...
and other
keyboards) and
Mick Bunnage (
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
). The band had two different drummers over the years, Graham Summers and Pete Gregory.
The band released ten albums on its own labels, from 1979 to 1983 on Mole Embalming Records and from 1983 to 1989 on Cordelia Records.
Their music was odd, often consisting of
absurd and
surreal lyrics delivered in Jenkins'
deadpan
Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant to be blun ...
voice, accompanied by bouncy
pop/
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...
music. Favoured lyrical concerns included
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...
,
conformity and
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
.
The Deep Freeze Mice are included in the
Nurse with Wound list.
Jenkins outside The Deep Freeze Mice
Jenkins was also a member of
The Chrysanthemums in the late 1980s, and joined up with members of
Po!
Po! are an indie rock band formed in Leicester, England in 1987, with releases dating up to 1998 on Rutland Records, Sunday Records in the US and Elefant Records in Spain.
History
Po! was originally formed by Ruth Miller (vocals and guitar), w ...
and The Ammonites in
Ruth's Refrigerator
Ruth's Refrigerator were a psychedelic rock/indie pop band from Leicester, England, formed in 1990 as a collaboration between guitarist/songwriter Alan Jenkins (of The Deep Freeze Mice and The Chrysanthemums), singer/guitarist Ruth Miller and ...
, and subsequently Jody & The Creams (later "Alan Jenkins & The Creams"). He has played guitar with psychedelic, experimental
surf instrumental band The Thurston Lava Tube since 2001, alongside Blodwyn P. Teabag -
combo organ
A combo organ, so-named and classified by popular culture due to its original intended use by small, touring jazz, pop and dance groups known as "combo bands", as well as some models having "Combo" as part of their brand or model names, is an elect ...
, Johnny Pacino - bass and Mat Bartram - drums. Marshall Cavendish replaced Johnny Pacino on bass in 2003.
Discography
*''My Geraniums are Bulletproof'' (1979)
*''Teenage Head in My Refrigerator'' (1981)
*''The Gates of Lunch'' (1982)
*''Saw a Ranch House Burning Last Night'' (1983)
*''I Love You Little Bo Bo with Your Delicate Golden Lions'' (double L.P.) (1984)
*"These Floors Are Smooth" (7" single) (1985)
*''Hang on Constance, Let Me Hear the News'' (1985)
*''Neuron Music'' (12" EP) (1986)
*''War, Famine, Death, Pestilence and Miss Timberlake'' (1987)
*''Rain Is When the Earth is Television'' (1987)
*''The Tender Yellow Ponies of Insomnia'' (1988)
*''The Best of The Deep Freeze Mice'' (2014)
References
External links
*
Musical groups from Leicester
{{UK-rock-band-stub