Flipper's second studio album, Gone Fishin' (originally released in 1984), takes the original band in a more 'commercially accessible' direction. There is a lot more structure to these songs as compared to Generic Flipper, and the (somewhat surprisingly) clean and clear production and unified flow of this disc highlight Will and Bruce's lyrical and musical abilities. Mny of the songs are still anchored by a throbbing bass line, but the bass is no longer the focal point of the songs. Complementing the expected bass, guitar, drums, Flipper uses a xylaphone, synare, clavinet, congas, piano and alto sax on different tracks on the disc.

The disc starts off with the punkish, "The Light, The Sound" (and there is a live version of this song on Flipper's Myspace Profile - link below). Moving further into the disc, on songs like "First The Heart" and the headphone-trippy "Talk's Cheap", Will has a tendancy to sound somewhat like mid-80's Richard Hell. There is still the sludge/dirge sound of the previous release on tracks like "Survivors of the Plague" and the still topically relevant "Sacrifice". "You Nought Me" is a chaotic wreck (which never completely breaks down) and the last song on the disc, "One By One", starts with a long buzzing guitar riff that sounds like something lifted from Rocket From the Tombs/early Pere Ubu.

The overall production adds an intriguing dimension to the songs - "Sacrifice" starts with the marching sounds of soldiers before Steve kicks in with a military beat, Will has a 'conversation' with himself that bounces between speakers on 'Talk's Cheap' and the chaotic 'You Nought Me' has a tinkling piano in the background.

King Buzzo from The Melvins wrote the liner notes for this disc and and he sums Flipper's accomplishments as "...the most important thing is the music. If you get Flipper, no explanation is necessary".

This record has been out of print for too long...

Water Records has faithfully reproduced the original LP art so you can cut out and assemble Flipper's tour van and stand-ups of all of the band members.

Links:
Flipper's MySpace Profile
Water Records