School Of Fish Port Orchard WA

School Of Fish

School Of Fish

Capitol Records, 1991

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/28/1998

Often when I walk the aisles of the Pierce Archives (50 percent off of Green Bay Packers merchandise), I'm struck with a feeling I can only call "Where-Are-They-Now? Syndrome." So many bands have come, made a strong impression on the music world, then disappeared without a trace.

Of course, when I go back to listen to some of these groups, I can understand why they've disappeared into the netherworlds. One such band is School Of Fish, who released two albums on Capitol before being eaten up by the musical equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster. (Memo to the Spice Girls: You're next.)

And while their self-titled debut album does contain some great numbers, for the most part it is filled with unimpressive rock that is indistinguishable from countless other acts.

Led by Josh Clayton-Felt and Michael Ward, School Of Fish first grabbed our attention with "3 Strange Days," a quirky little number that works in some mild Middle Eastern influences with a snappy drum beat provided by M.P. and a crunching guitar riff that is instantly addictive. As for the lyrics, I have no clue what Clayton-Felt is talking about -- maybe this is all he remembers after going on a three-day bender, I don't know. But the fact that this song still gets airplay is testimony to how fresh it was in 1990.