Alien Sex Fiend
Alien Sex Fiend are an English gothic rock band, formed in London in 1982. The current lineup of the band consists of Nik Fiend and Mrs Fiend. Five of the group's albums and 12 of their singles reached top 20 positions in the UK indie charts in the period up to 1987.[1]
History
Alien Sex Fiend were formed by Nicholas Wade
Alien Sex Fiend recorded a cassette (The Lewd, the Mad, the Ugly and Old Nick) with
They signed to the
The band also recorded two BBC Peel Sessions in 1984. At the May session, they recorded "Attack!!!", "Dead and Buried", "Ignore the Machine" and "Hee Haw"; at the August session, "In God We Trust", "E.S.T. (Trip to the Moon)" and "Boneshaker Baby".[8]
In October 1985, their third studio album
The band also became popular in Japan, and in 1985, they released a live album recorded there, Liquid Head in Tokyo.[5][6] Freshwater left later in 1985, and the band continued as a trio, supporting Alice Cooper on his "The Nightmare Returns" tour in 1986 and releasing "It" the Album that October.[5][6] The band was reduced to a duo of the Wades when James left following the release of 1987's Here Cum Germs.[5]
In early 1988, the band, as the Dynamic Duo, recorded a one-off 12" single "Batman Theme" with recording and live engineer Len Davies, before continuing as Alien Sex Fiend, incorporating electronics and sampling even more into their sound on the album Another Planet, released in November 1988.[5][6] They reverted to a four-piece with the 1989 addition of two prior guest collaborators, drummer/guitarist Andrew Wilson (a.k.a. Rat Fink Jr., formerly of the Turnpike Cruisers) and keyboardist/guitarist Simon "Doc" Milton,[6] who made their official debut on that year's Too Much Acid? double-live album. Their seventh studio album, Curse, was released in October 1990.[3]
Fink and Milton departed in 1992, following that year's Open Head Surgery album and its subsequent tour (documented on The Altered States of America live album).
The Wades then became a duo once again and provided the soundtrack for the Digital Image Design game Inferno in 1994.[5]
In the mid 1990s, the band's video for "Zombified" appeared on the
In 1996, the Wades launched their own 13th Moon label,[5] issuing three further albums: Nocturnal Emissions (1997), Information Overload (2004) and Death Trip (2010).
On 9 November 2018, Alien Sex Fiend released Possessed, their first album in eight years, on Cherry Red.[12]
Music style
Alien Sex Fiend has been described as gothic rock,[13] deathrock[14] and industrial.[14] Glenn Danzig has cited the group's sonorous and echoing sounds as having influenced the mixing for several of the recordings for his group Samhain.
Later projects
Fink published a book in 2000, Once Upon a Fiend,[15] recalling his experiences in the band. He later drummed for Blackpool bands United States of Mind and Dog Food before joining Uncle Fester in 1999, who changed their name to UFX in 2006. Fink currently serves as frontman of Vince Ripper and the Rodent Show, a duo also featuring Vince "Ripper" Cornwall. They perform Alien Sex Fiend and the Cramps material, and have released two albums, It's Fun to Be a Monster and Boneyard a Go Go!!!.[16]
Discography
- Studio albums
- Who's Been Sleeping in My Brain (1983)
- Acid Bath (1984)
- Maximum Security (1985)
- "It" the Album (1986)
- Here Cum Germs (1987)
- Another Planet (1988)
- Curse (1990)
- Open Head Surgery (1992)
- Inferno (1994)
- Nocturnal Emissions (1997)
- Information Overload (2004)
- Death Trip (2010)
- Possessed (2018)
References
- ISBN 0-9517206-9-4.
- ^ "Nicholas Wade". Discogs. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
- ^ ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
- ^ "Alien Sex Fiend Interview at BERLINMUSIC.TV". YouTube. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ ISBN 1-84195-335-0.
- ^ ISBN 0-87930-607-6.
- ^ Igymeth, Daz (April 1988). "Loving the Alien: Making Up with Alien Sex Fiend". Underground (13): 35.
- ^ "BBC – Radio 1 – Keeping It Peel – Alien Sex Fiend". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ a b "Alien Sex Fiend | Artist | Official Charts". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and Albums (2006 ed.).
- ^ "Alien Sex Fiend Now I'm Feeling Zombified (Beavis & Butthead TV spot)". YouTube. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ "Alien Sex Fiend to release 'Possessed' – first new album in 8 years – next month". Slicingupeyeballs.com. 16 October 2018.
- ^ "Alien Sex Fiend". AllMusic.
- ^ Axs.com.
- ISBN 9780953656417.
- ^ "Vince Ripper and The Rodent Show". Facebook.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.