SEA HORSES #1
Leaping from the oceans of Congleton and Macclesfield in 1988, these Sea Horses recorded three albums of ethereal wispiness before disbanding... just as John Squire formed his own bunch of Seahorses below. This lot kicked up a bit of a fuss, and after a while, according to a quote I found online, "Chris* Squire brought the name for an undisclosed figure and there's 15,000 reasons why we can't tell you. [The Sea Horses and their producer] each took a share to cover their losses... and not long after Chris Squire's Seahorse died." (Spoilers!)
*I don't know why they insist on calling him Chris Squire, because Chris Squire is the bassist in Yes and has nothing to do with any Seahorses. Maybe they're just taking the piss?
Sea Horses - Asking Heaven And Heart
THE SEAHORSES #2
From Sheffield in 1989 comes another bunch of Seahorses, this time supporting one Nick Fish.
He wasn't a real fish.
Nick Fish & The Seahorses - Mockingbird Lane
THE SEAHORSES #3
After falling out with Ian Brown and ending The Stone Roses, guitarist John Squire teamed up with busking songwriter Chris Helme to form The Seahorses. They didn't have the best of starts after Squire admitted he didn't like any of Helme's songs and wanted to stick with the ones he'd written instead.
These Seahorses broke up during the recording sessions for their second album after a big bust up between Squire and Helme in which Helme "turned a Larrivée guitar into match sticks".
The Seahorses - Love Is The Law
WE ARE THE SEAHORSES #4
Getting in on a technicality, this Pittsburgh band contributed a song to a 2006 Halloween compilation called Brains Are Served, which also featured Weird Paul, Sexually Active Corpse and Johnny Cash(less Society). Grab a copy next time you see it in a charity shop near you!
We Are The Seahorses - Jeffrey Caught The Green Ball
SEAHORSES! #5
Here's a little tip for John Squire next time he wants to use a band name that's already been used. Rather than shelling out 15,000 clams, how about just sticking an exclamation mark on the end?
Here are some Seahorses! (or it might just be one bloke) from Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2012.
SEAHORSES #6
Also from 2012, and not even bothering with an exclamation mark, here are some Peruvian Seahorses. From the image illustrating their bandcamp page, I'm thinking they mean no 'arm.
I chose this particular tune because of its "title"...
THE SEAHORSES #7
Next, some folky-indie Seahorses from Edinburgh, the alias of one Ailsa McEwan, whose song-writing "channels the emotional vulnerability of her hero Jeff Buckley, the dreamy melancholia of The Smiths, and the haunting existential poetry of Leonard Cohen".
Ailsa and the Seahorses - Hermit
SEAHORSES #8
And finally, some "ambient electronic indie" from Portland, Maine. This is from 2019, but they're still on the go now.
Seahorses - Let the Rain Wash Through the Holes in Your Skin
There were many more Seahorse-related bands out there - including Seahoarse, Seawhorse, The Plain Seahorses, The Winged Seahorses, Road of Seahorses, Seahorses Forever, Let's All Ride Seahorses and - my personal favourite - Seahorse Divorce.
But which band makes you see horses... and which makes you see red?
Not even that Pans People tribute act can save #4; despite trying to dislike #3 I am unable to do so; the insufferable tweeness of #5 makes me want to eat glass rather than like it, and strangely the whistling makes it worse; the last two are dreary old bobbins, so it's #3 for me
ReplyDeleteAlmost all of them are preferable to #3 without any of them being outstanding. I quite like #7 and #6 is OK but unfortunately sounds like it was recorded on an old cheap cassette that has started to warp. Some of the other stuff by #5 with a female vocalist is quite decent as well, slightly reminiscent of Hem for your older readers.
ReplyDeleteI quite like #7 too, but it probably still has to be #3 for me, even if John was prone to what Chris called "muso wank" in it. Anyway, I'm now looking forward to "Namesakes #126: The Shirehorses"...
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