San Francisco musician Cole Marquis started with the legendary 28th Day with the criminally neglected Barbara Manning and Mike Cloward. After the 28th Day, Marquis and Cloward formed the Downsiders, a band that moved along the trails of Marquis songwriting. Those familiar with 28th Day, will recognise the sense of melody, even if sometimes follows more unconventional ways, the tense in Marquis guitar and vocals, and his psychedelic point of view. On "Pony Made Of Ice", 6 min. psychedelic travel they preceded Shiva Burlesque and their clones. In the mid-’90s, Marquis formed the eccentric space pop outfit the Snowmen and continued to release solo efforts (edit:take a look at the comments for these).
The Downsiders were the Ones (from left): Jeff Tracy, Cole Marquis, Keith Foust and Chris Cloward were Chico’s Nirvana and Sonic Youth rolled into one. With two amazing albums on Mammoth Records, culminating with the essential All My Friends Are Fish, and a national influence left in the wake of several cross-country tours, the Downsiders would have most likely risen to the top of the Sub Pop-sparked underground explosion had they lasted even one year more. Everyone went to every one of their shows--punkers, alterna-kids, hippies, frat dudes and sorority chicks alike packed in tight at Wall Street and the Burro Room waiting for Cole’s cue, "And I took a ride!" to lift off in unison and test the structural integrity of the wooden trampoline created by a band and a town who were all in it together. (Chico News & Reviews)
On their good days the Downsiders could play twisted garage rock that was livelier and more interesting than anything else out there. All My Friends Are Fish was recorded on a day when everything clicked, when Cole Marquis was getting maximum mileage from his dead pan voice, when the band was in perfect form and hammering out a wild melange of psychedelia, folk-punk, and pure garage energy. The musical textures are dazzlingly varied, from the poppy "I Wanna Drive" and menacing hard rock of "Old Black Crow" to numbers that are wildly experimental. The extended intro to "Feet of Clay has a bizarre mix of fuzzed out bass, acoustic guitar, and frantic drumming that sounds like a folk band trying to invent speed metal. "All My Friends Are Fish" is a wonderful momento of a daring and talented band, one which unfortunately never got the recognition they deserved. ~ Richard Foss, All Music Guide
