Jellyfishbabies

Last updated
Jellyfish babies
Origin Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Genres Alternative rock
Years active1986 (1986)1993
Past membersScott Kendall
Peter Arsenault
Dave Schellenberg
Colleen Britton
Mike Belitsky

Jellyfishbabies were an alternative rock band in Canada, active from 1986 to 1993. Although the band never attained mainstream success, they were one of the major influences on the "Halifax Pop Explosion" scene of the early 1990s. [1]

Contents

Originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, the band consisted of vocalist Scott Kendall, guitarist Peter Arsenault, bassist Dave Schellenberg and drummer Colleen Britton. The original lineup released an independent self-titled album in 1986, which hit No. 1 on local radio station CKDU-FM just three days after its release. [2]

The band was featured on Out of the Fog, a 1986 compilation of Halifax-area bands which was also credited with launching the career of Sarah McLachlan. [3]

By 1987, the band had decided to move to Toronto in hopes of landing a recording contract. [4] Britton declined to make the move, however, and was replaced by Mike Belitsky. [5]

Once in Toronto, the band released the album The Unkind Truth About Rome in 1990. Their single, "The Erlking", was featured on the Highway 61 soundtrack, and the band recorded a cover of "Call it Democracy" for the Bruce Cockburn tribute album, Kick at the Darkness . [6] They followed up with The Swan and the City in 1992, although Arsenault had by this time left the band to join the Doughboys. However, the band had limited commercial success, and broke up s0metime following The Swan and the City.

Sloan named their 2003 album Action Pact for the Jellyfishbabies song "Youth Action Pact". [7]

Discography

Albums

Compilations

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sloan (band)</span> Canadian rock band

Sloan is a Canadian rock band formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1991. Sloan has released thirteen full-length albums and has received nine Juno Award nominations, winning one. Between 1996 and 2016, Sloan was among the top 75 best-selling Canadian artists in Canada and among the top 25 best-selling Canadian bands in Canada. The band is known for their sharing of songwriting and lead vocals from each member of the group and their unaltered line-up throughout their career. Although formed in Halifax, the band is now based out of Toronto.

<i>Action Pact</i> (album) 2003 studio album by Sloan

Action Pact is the seventh album by Canadian rock band Sloan. The album was named after "Youth Action Pact," a song by the 1980s Halifax band Jellyfishbabies. Action Pact was released on August 19, 2003 by ViK Recordings. The album does not include any songs written by Andrew Scott, and is therefore the only Sloan album that does not include at least one track written by each band member. The album debuted at #11 on the Canadian Albums Chart. Action Pact was nominated for "Favourite New Album" at the 2003 CASBY Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet</span> Canadian rock band

Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet are a Juno Award-winning Canadian instrumental rock band, formed in 1984. They remain best known for the track "Having an Average Weekend", of which an alternate version was used as the theme to the Canadian sketch comedy TV show The Kids in the Hall. Although commonly classified as a surf rock band they rejected the label, going so far as to release a track called "We're Not a Fucking Surf Band", although they also later released a compilation box set titled Oh, I Guess We Were a Fucking Surf Band After All.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Murphy (Canadian musician)</span> Musical artist

Christopher Michael Murphy is a Canadian musician and a member of the rock band Sloan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric's Trip</span> Canadian indie rock band

Eric's Trip is a Canadian indie rock band from Moncton, New Brunswick. Eric's Trip achieved prominence as the first Canadian band to be signed to Seattle's flagship grunge label Sub Pop in the early 1990s.

hHead were a Canadian alternative rock band, formed in 1991 in Ajax.

Jale was a Canadian alternative rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Contemporaries of Sloan and The Super Friendz, they formed in 1992 and was part of the Halifax Pop Explosion scene in the 1990s. They released three records as a band before disbanding in 1996.

The Super Friendz are a Canadian indie rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia. They were initially active between 1994 and 1997, before reforming in 2002, with sporadic activity since then.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Inbreds</span> Canadian alternative rock band

The Inbreds were a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1992. Originally from Kingston, Ontario, the band relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1996 and remained based there until breaking up in 1998. The band was a duo, consisting of vocalist/bassist Mike O'Neill and drummer Dave Ullrich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick White (musician)</span> Canadian musician and singer-songwriter (born 1970)

Rick White is a Canadian musician and singer-songwriter. Born in Moncton, New Brunswick, he was a member of indie bands Eric's Trip, Elevator, Perplexus, and The Unintended. White first played music, in a band called "Bloodstain", in 1984, before starting his own band "in 1986", called "T.C.I.B", which later transitioned into the band name, "The Underdogs", which lasted from the summer of 1987, until June 1988. By the summer of 1989, The Underdogs had broken up, and Rick had joined another band, "The Forest", which lasted from the 1989, until June 1990, with a one-off recording session happening in December, 1990. Prior to Eric's Trip, and while in Eric's Trip, White also recorded two solo-produced albums, one in March 1990, and another in August 1991, but both were not released until 2022. Known for lo-fi recording, he has also recorded and produced music for The Sadies, Orange Glass, Joel Plaskett, One Hundred Dollars, Dog Day, HotKid and his former Eric's Trip bandmate Julie Doiron.

Sandbox was a Canadian alternative rock band active in the 1990s. The band consisted of Paul Murray on lead vocals, Mike Smith and Jason Archibald on guitar, Scott MacFarlane on bass and Troy Shanks on drums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Pentland</span> Musical artist

John Patrick Thomas Pentland is an Irish-born rock guitarist and a member of the Canadian rock band Sloan. All four members of Sloan write, produce, and sing their own songs, but Pentland primarily plays lead guitar for most songs. He occasionally plays rhythm guitar, bass, keyboards in the studio, and occasionally plays drums live. Pentland is one of the band's two main singers, as he sings lead on at least a third of the band's songs, including many of their singles on their third to fifth albums, plus back-up/harmony vocals on most of their other songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Plaskett</span> Canadian singer-songwriter

William Joel MacDonald Plaskett is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of genres, from blues and folk to hard rock, country, and pop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halifax Pop Explosion</span>

The Halifax Pop Explosion (HPX) was a music festival and conference that occurred every fall, typically two weeks after Thanksgiving, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The term "Halifax Pop Explosion" also came to be adopted in the 1990s as the name of the Halifax alternative rock music scene as a whole, which at that time was dominated by power pop acts such as Sloan, Jale, The Super Friendz, and Thrush Hermit.

The Hardship Post was a Canadian alternative rock band, that formed in St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1992 and moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, during the Halifax Pop Explosion of the early 1990s.

Camouflage Nights is a Canadian electronic rock band from Toronto fronted by Rob Benvie and Ian McGettigan.

<i>Love Tara</i> 1993 studio album by Erics Trip

Love Tara is the first full-length album by Canadian indie band Eric's Trip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinnamon Toast Records</span> Canadian record label

Cinnamon Toast Records was a record label from Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was inspired by the American label Simple Machines and was run by Walter Forsyth, Lee Ann Gillan, Shawn Duggan, Colin MacKenzie, Robert Jeans and Miroslav Wiesner. Born out of an influx of local alternative music being created in Halifax during the early 1990s, Cinnamon Toast Records released a number of limited 7-inch singles, each in a different colour. Cinnamon Toast Records' first single was a 7-inch pressing of the Halifax band Bubaiskull in 1992. Other notable releases are the first Jale single and a split pressing of Sloan and Eric's Trip in 1993, a Rebecca West CD in 1995, as well as a number of full length Plumtree CDs.

The Carnations were a Canadian indie rock band started in 1995 by Thomas D'Arcy on lead vocals and bass, and Stephen Krecklo on vocals and guitar. It expanded in 1996 to include Nathan Rekker on guitar and vocals, and Patrick Conan on drums.

<i>The Double Cross</i> 2011 studio album by Sloan

The Double Cross is the tenth studio album by Canadian rock band Sloan. The title of the album is a nod to their 20th anniversary. At a length of 34 minutes, it is Sloan's shortest album to date. It is also the band's first album to be released on the Outside Music label.

References

  1. Barclay, Michael; Jack, Ian A.D.; Schneider, Jason (2011). Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995 (10th anniversary ed.). ECW Press. pp. 460–463. ISBN   978-1-55022-992-9.
  2. Jellyfishbabies [usurped] at the Canadian Pop Encyclopedia.
  3. "Making a scene". The Coast , March 30, 2006.
  4. "Is Zodiac just brash Brit flavor of month?". Toronto Star , November 27, 1987.
  5. "On second thought -- stay in the house". Halifax Daily News , December 24, 1993.
  6. "The essence of rock 'n' roll". Ottawa Citizen , January 4, 1992.
  7. "Sloan lets outsider in on the Action". Kingston Whig-Standard , August 13, 2003.