Fishbone

Fishbone was formed from a disparate, all-black oddball crew at a South Central Los Angeles junior high in 1979. Playing an orgasmic urban gumbo of punk, funk, and ska, the six-man band became a favorite of the L.A. postpunk scene; eventually, the group would become a notoriously powerful live act, opening for the Beastie Boys on their Licensed to Ill tour and coheadlining club tours with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Fishbone's albums have some great moments, but they neither capture the excitement of the band's shows nor hold much commercial appeal; the band still plays to sold-out crowds, but it remains one of the shoulda-beens of '80s alternative rock.

Although Fishbone's 1985 self-titled debut forecasted good things with its essential, butt-wiggling "Party at Ground Zero," it suffered from reed-thin production. The band aimed higher with In Your Face, struggling to combine P-Funk, the Specials, and Black Flag, but didn't quite have the songs to pull it off. It all finally clicked on Truth and Soul, which was released in 1988; still in their early twenties but already tour veterans, the members of Fishbone were writing combustible anthems. Catchy tracks like "Bonin' in the Boneyard" sound like the musical wheels might fall off if the band dared to stop and breathe. Many songs contained social and political commentary: "Ma and Pa" decries the destructive behavior of divorcing parents, as leader Angelo Moore sings, "There's lots of moneys/for all the attorneys," who are the only winners in divorce. The band's Bone in the USA tour consolidated its strengths as a live act; simply put, there was no better conscious party to be found than a Fishbone show.

Followup The Reality of My Surroundings is even sharper productionwise, but its tunes aren't as memorable; the hard-charging Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe is their most rocking disc. Sadly, before that record was released, guitarist Kendall Jones left the band after he apparently suffered a nervous breakdown. On the eve of Lollapalooza '93, the band was decimated, and it never truly recovered. Despite the additional departures of original/long-standing members drummer Philip "Fish" Fisher and keyboardist/trombonist Chris Dowd, Fishbone remains a potent live band; in its prime, it was a wholly unique beast. (PETER RELIC)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide