Sea Scouts (band)
Encyclopedia
Sea Scouts were a noise rock
band, based in Hobart
, Tasmania
.
with U.F.O. (Unlimited Friendly Objective) frontman Zach von Bamburger. Fusing the elements of thick, rough analogue guitar noise and hidden melodies, also aided by a drum machine, the duo recorded the $100,000 Dollar Mamal (sic) EP
. Vocal and instrumental duties were shared by the duo on the polycarbonate-only pressing, as they were in live shows. Live shows had a tendency to resemble hysteria; consequently only the occasional song would hold together as an elongated, threadbare jam. Shortly after the release of the EP, Monika Fikerle
became the band's drummer. Idiosyncratic, but contumelious with the band's minimal yet full sound, Fikerle played her kit with a complete absence of snare drum
. Following a short tour of the mainland
, Fikerle left the band. After playing with numerous briefly included drummer
s, the band folded six months later.
. After several months of gigging, ex-U.F.O bassist Andy Hazel joined on drums, introducing snare and hi-hat
to the previously more stripped-back sound. Several months later Sara May Libero replaced Hazel on drums, continuing the band's use of (Mo Tucker style) stand-up drummers, albeit minus snare. On the last day of Spring 1996, in a kitchen in West Hobart, the trio recorded the band's first full length (vinyl only version) LP, Pattern Recognition. It was released on Chapter Music
in 1997, causing big stirrings amongst a small but growing number of fans. In early 1998, the band toured Melbourne and Sydney, supporting Pavement
and Archers Of Loaf
before Libero departed and was replaced by Fikerle, who re-joined the group to jam a newer set of songs.
was released on the small, California
n-based label Zum on 20 August 1999. Further recordings were also made of a combination of old and new songs, which to this date have never been released.
into Europe, joining Ninetynine
and, unlike many peers, played in numerous former Eastern Bloc
countries.
in Richmond
, Melbourne, on 18 February 2000.
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
band, based in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
.
First formation
Following the split of his former band Mouth in 1994, Tim Evans began jammingJam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
with U.F.O. (Unlimited Friendly Objective) frontman Zach von Bamburger. Fusing the elements of thick, rough analogue guitar noise and hidden melodies, also aided by a drum machine, the duo recorded the $100,000 Dollar Mamal (sic) EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
. Vocal and instrumental duties were shared by the duo on the polycarbonate-only pressing, as they were in live shows. Live shows had a tendency to resemble hysteria; consequently only the occasional song would hold together as an elongated, threadbare jam. Shortly after the release of the EP, Monika Fikerle
Monika Fikerle
Monika Fikerle is an Australian musician and multi-instrumentalist, most noted for her "energetic, quirky" drumming style.Fikerle began her music career in Hobart in 1995, becoming Sea Scouts' drummer after having taken up the drums 'about a week' earlier. She later played in Surgery and 1001101...
became the band's drummer. Idiosyncratic, but contumelious with the band's minimal yet full sound, Fikerle played her kit with a complete absence of snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
. Following a short tour of the mainland
Australia (continent)
Australia is the world's smallest continent, comprising the mainland of Australia and proximate islands including Tasmania, New Guinea, the Aru Islands and Raja Ampat Islands...
, Fikerle left the band. After playing with numerous briefly included drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
s, the band folded six months later.
Re-formation
A year after parting company with von Bamburger, Evans started the band again with new bassist Alex Pope and in rehearsal they jammed many old songs along with newer ones. They began performing (once again) with a drum machineDrum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
. After several months of gigging, ex-U.F.O bassist Andy Hazel joined on drums, introducing snare and hi-hat
Hi-hat
A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...
to the previously more stripped-back sound. Several months later Sara May Libero replaced Hazel on drums, continuing the band's use of (Mo Tucker style) stand-up drummers, albeit minus snare. On the last day of Spring 1996, in a kitchen in West Hobart, the trio recorded the band's first full length (vinyl only version) LP, Pattern Recognition. It was released on Chapter Music
Chapter Music
Chapter Music is one of Australia's longest-running independent record labels. It was founded by Guy Blackman in Perth in June 1992, after a few issues of a Syd Barrett inspired fanzine called Chapter 24, that Blackman started in October 1990, when he was seventeen...
in 1997, causing big stirrings amongst a small but growing number of fans. In early 1998, the band toured Melbourne and Sydney, supporting Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...
and Archers Of Loaf
Archers of Loaf
Archers of Loaf is an American indie-rock band originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, formed in 1990. The group toured extensively and released a total of four studio albums, a collection album, numerous singles and EPs, and a live album which was released after the band broke up in...
before Libero departed and was replaced by Fikerle, who re-joined the group to jam a newer set of songs.
Later years
In 1998, they recorded a more coarse, further darker and nihilistic Beacon of Hope, which was released on the Unstable Ape label in December that year. In the same sessions, the Scouts re-recorded an intentionally cleaner, "less scabby" version of the Pattern Recognition album for CD only. Interestingly, Fikerle had begun consistently reintroducing a sparing amount of snare. They added Adelaide as a new touring destination. In 1999 a re-recording of two early early songs from the band's first incarnation were recorded, and the Word as a Weapon"/"Destroy Your Local McDonalds 7"Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
was released on the small, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
n-based label Zum on 20 August 1999. Further recordings were also made of a combination of old and new songs, which to this date have never been released.
North American and European tours
In 1999 the Scouts embarked on a tour of North America. They then crossed the AtlanticAtlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
into Europe, joining Ninetynine
Ninetynine
Ninetynine is an indie band based in Melbourne, Australia. The band was founded by Laura Macfarlane, who played drums in Sleater-Kinney, in 1996 as a solo project. The first album, 99, was recorded with her playing all the instruments. Not long after she assembled a band with Cameron Potts and...
and, unlike many peers, played in numerous former Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
countries.
Final shows
Returning home later in 1999, it was decided that the band would play its final shows ever in Hobart. The Scouts then played a "grand-final" show at the Corner HotelCorner Hotel, Richmond
The Corner Hotel in Richmond, Victoria is one of Melbourne's most popular and respected medium-sized rock venues. In 2005 it celebrated its 10th anniversary with the current owners , however it has been a pub since the 19th century and a live music venue since the 1940s.-History:In 1871 David and...
in Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
, Melbourne, on 18 February 2000.
Aftermath
- Evans, who made a number of cameos with Ninetynine, recorded with that band whilst on the 1999 tour. Shortly after Sea Scouts disbanded, he formed Bird BlobsBird BlobsBird Blobs were a garage rock/post punk musical group from Melbourne, Australia. They formed in 2000 with Tim Evans and Ian Wadley as the core and only continuous members of the group. The first self-titled recording was performed with Evans on drums, with Wadley and Evans overdubbing the other...
in Melbourne. The Bird Blobs were active between 1999 and 2005, releasing an EP and two albums on Unstable Ape RecordsUnstable Ape RecordsUnstable Ape Records is an Australian independent record label. Founded in Tasmania, it is now based in Melbourne. Unstable Ape's focus tends primarily towards indie rock and roll, but also expands its interest to contemporary folk , jazz and world music...
. After the Bird Blobs disbanded, Evans played in Bogan Dust, based in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
City, upon his return to Australia he formed Coconuts and then Venom P. Stinger. - von Bamburger, who founded Mongoose, Monster Monster Monster and Ditchboss, now plays in Go Genre Everything.
- Fikerle now plays drums with Love of DiagramsLove Of DiagramsLove of Diagrams is an indie rock band from Melbourne, Australia, formed in 2001. Their sound is characterized by a mix of energetic drumming, angular guitar and bass riffs, and call-and-response vocals.- History :...
and bass with BaseballBaseball (band)Baseball is a self-managed and independent band from Melbourne, Australia.Baseball played at the Hohaiyan Rock Festival in Taipei in 2005, where lead singer Cameron Potts smashed his violin at the end of the set....
, both bands being based in Melbourne. - Pope plays in a black metalBlack metalBlack metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
outfit in Hobart, Ruins.
Members
- Tim Evans — vocals, guitar (1994–2000)
- Monika FikerleMonika FikerleMonika Fikerle is an Australian musician and multi-instrumentalist, most noted for her "energetic, quirky" drumming style.Fikerle began her music career in Hobart in 1995, becoming Sea Scouts' drummer after having taken up the drums 'about a week' earlier. She later played in Surgery and 1001101...
— drums (1995, 1997–2000) - Andy Hazel — drums (1996)
- Sara May Libero — drums (1996–97)
- David Nuss — drums (1995)
- Alex Pope — bass, vocals (1996–2000)
- Zach von Bamburger — vocals, bass (1995–96)
Albums
- Pattern Recognition - Chapter Music (CH15) (1 August 1997)
- Beacon of Hope - Unstable Ape (PATSY003) (December 1998)