# Another Favorite Totally Obscure Band Gets A Wikipedia Entry



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

In 1989 the English band _Eat_ released their first album, _Sell Me a God_. It triggered a brief, faint spasm of interest in the UK, but went almost completely unregistered in the USA, which was odd because Eat (like Bad Company, for instance) was a distinctly American-sounding band. I enjoyed the album immediately: the band's heavy rhythm and the spare and jangly backing to the idiosyncratic vocals and lyrics--songs like Red Moon and Skin and Fatman offering bizarre vignettes rather different from the other albums of the day. But for decades, no Wikipedia or YouTube presence. I could not believe the group were British; they sounded quintessentially American: the long-sought, recent Wikipedia entry labeling Sell Me a God a mix of swamp blues, hip hop, and funk. Like previously mentioned obscure favorite band Tiny Lights, the Eat of Sell Me a God cannot be mistaken for anyone else. Unlike Tiny Lights however, there are some YouTube clips of SMAG songs: here is Fatman....






But Eat self-destructed shortly after SMAG, then reconstituted, doing a 90-degree turn and issuing their second and so far final full-length album _Epicure_ in 1993; the new Eat and album described by Wikipedia as a mix of pop and psychedelia--I do, though, find some songs still faintly reminiscent of the elder Eat. Here is Fecund....






Sell Me a God remains my favorite Eat album and is well worth hearing (if you can find it). Nothing quite like it.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Interesting. I'm digging that Fatman track. Reminds me of a mix of Pixies, Faith No More and Jane's Addiction--which would've fit right in with the American alternative scene of the late-80s/early-90s. I'm having no luck finding SMAG for download (even rutracker doesn't have it), but there are some cheap copies on discogs. May check it out after I finish my latest Playlist.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I agree with your finding mutual echoes between the Eat of SMAG and especially early Faith No More. The other similarities: not so much, as SMAG's choice of subject matter is unique (as you will find), especially in a song like Skin: "If you take off your clothes [to have possibly illicit sex], where you gonna put your wallet?". These are important themes, and Eat addresses them.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

I think where I hear Pixies and Jane's is more in the humor, especially the slightly dark (bassy-heavy) sound combined with the humor.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

In linking Eat with Jane's Addiction, I certainly would be thinking of Pigs in Zen, either version, now that I muse about it.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Three more songs from _Sell Me A God_:

Here is _Walking Man:_





And _Electric City:_





Finally, _Gyrate:_





Sorry, here's another: _Stories:_


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