Lime Spiders

The group disbanded in 1990 and in 1999 Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, noted they had provided "raucous sound mixed screaming vocals and wild, fuzz-tone guitar riffs to arrive at a mutant strain of acid punk that bordered on heavy metal".

The Lime Spiders were formed in 1979 by Michael Patrick "Mick" Blood on lead vocals,[1][2] who cites their influences as being 1960s garage bands with psychedelic rock.

[1][2][3] The band's name relates to a non-alcoholic cocktail – a combination of vanilla ice cream and lime soft drink (soda).

The keyboards were provided by Bruce Tatham (later played with Decline of the Reptiles)[2] who is also heard on The Celibate Rifles' debut album, Sideroxylon (April 1983).

– Mather[6]The group reformed again by August 1983 with Blood and Jakimyszyn joined by Tony Bambach on bass guitar and Richard Lawson on drums.

[1] It was co-produced by the band with Tom Misner,[2] who Blood described as "an older dude who owned the School of Audio business (Central Recorders).

[11] Blood later told TheDwarf website about writing the track: "[it] come from a throwaway riff that [Jakimyszyn] used to peel off automatically at rehearsals every time he plugged his guitar into his amp, to check his sound ...

I woke up one Sat morning at a house I was staying at in [Chippendale] and the lyrics flooded my head and I wrote them down as fast as I was thinking of them ... [later] I came armed with the last verse.

The track received airplay in Europe including France, Germany, Spain and Sweden: "where fans in those territories became hooked on its wild acid-punk sound".

[1][2] Allmusic's Stephen Cook praised the group for "[e]schewing some of the overtly psychedelic '60s touches and concocting an updated blend of crunching guitars, snarled vocals, and bottom-heavy bass and drums, the band come up with a surprisingly original sound".

[1] Whilst Blood was in Europe, he performed as a guest singer with Swedish band the Pushtwangers (for a single release) and also with a Greek group, Last Drive.

[1][2] Prior to Blood's departure for Europe, the band had an offer to create a track for an in-production feature film, Young Einstein (1988).

Its producers originally wanted "Slave Girl", but the song's rights were already assigned internationally; so they asked if the group could provide a track that matched its feel.

They released "Weirdo Libido", which was co-written by Blood and original guitarist Mather and produced by Cameron Allan, as a single, in January 1987 on Virgin Records.

At the end of the year they began a North American tour spanning two months of shows in major US cities and several in Canada.

Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, felt that it "contained a decent array of riff-heavy, hard rock tracks, but lacked the raw spark that had characterised the band's earlier output".

[1] By the time Volatile had appeared the line-up had changed again: Bambach, Blood, Corben and Lawson were joined by Michael Couvret (ex-Celibate Rifles bass guitarist) on rhythm guitar.

[1][2] This line-up supported Iggy Pop on his January 1989 Australian Instinct tour at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney and at the Newcastle Workers Club – which collapsed later that year in an earthquake.

Wilkinson played on the band's third studio album, Beethoven's Fist, with Kevin Shirley producing,[1][2] mixed by Michael Brauer, in Los Angeles.

[1] The track, "Mr Big Mouth", co-written by Wilkinson and Blood,[18] was released as the B-side of the single from the album, "Cherry Red", which appeared in October.

[1] McFarlane noted that over their career they had provided "raucous sound mixed screaming vocals and wild, fuzz-tone guitar riffs to arrive at a mutant strain of acid punk that bordered on heavy metal".

[1] While John Bush at AllMusic felt they were a "post-punk unit resurrecting the trashier elements of '60s garage and psychedelic rock with willful abandon".

It is essentially a greatest hits live collection, although it includes two previously unreleased tracks, "Society of Soul" and "The Dead Boys".

The next line-up of Blood, Bambach, Gerard and Tom Corben, and Sparks, reconvened for an appearance at the Hoodoo Gurus' Dig It Up show in Sydney during 2013.

In November 2015, the band announced it would play another benefit show at Sydney's Bald Faced Stag Hotel on 23 January 2016 with singer/actor Ripley Hood (Mushroom Planet, Funhouse, The Four Stooges) on vocals as Blood was still not well enough to perform.

In June 2023, Mick Blood has announced the end of Lime Spiders, as he can no longer enjoy existing in music with the intense scrutiny of social media.

saying "As you may realise, I've finally given up the rock 'n' roll circus after a highly successful international career with the Lime Spiders, the band I formed 43 years ago.