ICECREAM HANDS

Charles Jenkins had been a solo artist in Adelaide where, as Chuck Skatt, he formed The Mad Turks from Istanbul as their vocalist in 1984 with Dominic Larizza (as Dom Benedictine III) on drums and later on guitar, Martyn Christopher on bass guitar and Matthias Eckhardt on guitar. The band relocated to Melbourne by 1989, renamed as The Mad Turks after Eckhardt left, Jenkins took up rhythm guitar, and they disbanded there in 1991. Jenkins and Larizza recruited his brother Arturo "Arch" Larizza (ex-The Saints) on bass guitar and Derek Smiley on drums to form Chuck Skatt and His Icecream Hands in 1992. The name was shortened to Icecream Hands which Jenkins took from the lyrics of a 1984 Robyn Hitchcock song "Flavour of Night" from the album 'I Often Dream of Trains' and is an English term for masturbation. Their debut release, 'Ice Cream Hands' was a six-track EP on independent label Rubber Records and distributed by Shock Records.

Before they recorded their first album Larizza departed to play with Chris Bailey (ex-The Saints) in Bailey's backing band and he was replaced by Douglas Robertson. 'Travelling... Made Easy' was released in Europe in 1995 on Blue Rose Records with four additional tracks and was described as "quite an accomplished and ambitious effort". In Australia they released their second EP, 'Supermarket Scene' in 1994 followed by two more EPs 'Olive' (November 1995) and 'Here We Go 'Round Now' (July 1997). On 11 June 1997 the band performed on the RMITV show Under Melbourne Tonight.

They released their second album, 'Memory Lane Traffic Jam'. By then Rubber Records was being distributed by BMG and the album was released in the United States (US) on Not Lame Recordings. Three bonus tracks were added to the US release, which was acclaimed by AllMusic reviewer, Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "immediately catchy, but the songs grow stronger upon each listen -- a hallmark of a truly fine pop album". Marcus Goodwin (ex-Yolk) replaced Dom Larizza on lead guitar by August 1997

'Sweeter Than the Radio', co-produced by Icecream Hands and Wayne Connolly, was released in 1999. One of the singles, "Nipple" was written by Jenkins about an early girlfriend who attracted his attention at a bus stop. With a lack of commercial success, they nevertheless achieved critical acclaim when the album was nominated for an ARIA Music Award, for 'Best Adult Contemporary Album' in 2000. Their next album, 'Broken UFO', produced by Shane O'Mara and East Van Parks, contained the track, "Rain, Hail, Shine" which was nominated as 'Best Independent Release' at the ARIA Music Awards of 2002.

Rubber Records released a 2× CD greatest hits collection, 'You Can Ride My Bike: The Best of the Icecream Hands' in 2004. Icecream Hands briefly reunited for 'The Good China' album issued in 2007 on the independent label Dust Devil Music. In early 2019, the band reformed for a tour commemorating the 20th anniversary of the release of 'Sweeter Than The Radio'. On August 21, 2020, they released 'No Weapon But Love', their first album in 13 years. Due to COVID-19 lockdowns, the band were unable to perform an album launch until January 2021, when they played at the Northcote Social in Melbourne.

Members

Charles Jenkins (vocals, guitar), Derek Smiley (drums), Dom Larizza (guitar), Arturo Larizza (bass), Douglas Lee Robertson (bass, vocals), Marcus Goodwin (guitar)

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icecream_Hands