Ice Cream Hands are a power-pop band formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 1992 as Chuck Skatt and His Icecream Hands, with Charles "Chuck Skatt" Jenkins as lead singer-songwriter and rhythm guitarist, Arturo "Arch" Larizza on bass guitar, his brother Dom "Benedictine III" Larizza on lead guitar and Derek Smiley on drums. They shortened the name and released a self-titled extended play on Rubber Records in 1992, and after a year Douglas Lee Robertson had replaced Arch on bass guitar. In 1993 they released a full-length album, 'Travelling... Made Easy', and Douglas Robertson replaced Arch Larizza on bass guitar, with Larizza re-uniting with his ex-Saints bandmate Chris Bailey to play in his backing band. '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' in November 1995 and 'Here We Go 'Round Now' in July 1997. Also in 1997 Marcus Goodwin replaced Dom Larizza on lead guitar and their second album, 'Memory Lane Traffic Jam' was released in the United States on Not Lame Recordings. It 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".
'Sweeter Than The Radio', co-produced by Ice Cream Hands and Wayne Connolly, was released in 1999, soon after Marcus Goodwin had replaced Dom Larizza on lead guitar. Despite a lack of commercial success, they nevertheless achieved critical acclaim when the album was nominated for the ARIA 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 for the ARIA Award for Best Independent Release at the ARIA Music Awards of 2002. The band then took a short break, while Jenkins pursued his solo career, releasing two albums, 'Bungalow' in 2004 and 'The City Gates' in 2005, both on Parole Records. Ice Cream Hands briefly reunited for 'The Good China', which was released in 2007 on the independent label Dust Devil Music, but Jenkins returned to his solo work the following year, and released 'Blue Atlas' on Dust Devil Music in 2008. In early 2019, the band reformed for a tour commemorating the 20th anniversary of the release of 'Sweeter Than The Radio', and in August 2020 they released 'No Weapon But Love', their first album of new music in 13 years. Throughout their career, the band have been good to their fans, including exclusive tracks on their EPs and the flips of their singles, and so this 3CD set collects all their non-album tracks, so that the uninitiated can hear the music of this extremely under-rated Australian band.
Track listing
Disc I - 1992-1994
01 All Kinds Of Ways (from the 'Ice Cream Hands' EP 1992)
02 All Things Beautiful (from the 'Ice Cream Hands' EP 1992)
03 Uncle Robert's Questionnaire (from the 'Ice Cream Hands' EP 1992)
04 Miss Ice Fingers (from the 'Ice Cream Hands' EP 1992)
05 In Your Heart (from the 'Ice Cream Hands' EP 1992)
06 When Do The Celebrations Begin? (from the 'Ice Cream Hands' EP 1992)
07 Sanity Can (from the 'Supermarket Scene' EP 1994)
08 Riverside (from the 'Supermarket Scene' EP 1994)
09 Executioner (from the 'Supermarket Scene' EP 1994)
10 Swingin' Party (from the 'Supermarket Scene' EP 1994)
08 Riverside (from the 'Supermarket Scene' EP 1994)
09 Executioner (from the 'Supermarket Scene' EP 1994)
10 Swingin' Party (from the 'Supermarket Scene' EP 1994)
Disc II - 1995-1999
01 Sobersides (from the 'Olive' EP 1995)
02 Struggle Town (from the 'Olive' EP 1995)
03 Bend (from the 'Olive' EP 1995)
04 Miller (b-side of 'Here We Go 'Round Now' 1997)
05 Visiting Girl (b-side of 'Here We Go 'Round Now' 1997)
06 Ed's General Store (b-side of 'Dodgy' 1998)
07 It's Always Going To Get You (b-side of 'Dodgy' 1998)
08 A Three Minute Song (b-side of 'Yellow & Blue' 1999)
09 Letterbox (b-side of 'Yellow & Blue' 1999)
10 You Should Know By Now (b-side of 'Spirit Level' 1999)
11 I Bet It's Warm Up There (b-side of 'Spirit Level' 1999)
Disc III - 2000-2007
01 The Ballad Of Human Nature (b-side of 'The Obvious Boy' 2000)
02 Can You Slide? (b-side of 'The Obvious Boy' 2000)
03 Forest Hill (b-side of 'The Obvious Boy' 2000)
04 When The Bullshit Comes (b-side of 'Rain Hail Shine' 2001)
05 Unbuckling The Bible Belt (unreleased track from the band's myspace page 2002)
06 Look At You Now (from the 'Why'd You Have To Leave Me This Way?' EP 2002)
07 Sometimes (from the 'Why'd You Have To Leave Me This Way?' EP 2002)
08 My Lights Are Green (from the 'Why'd You Have To Leave Me This Way?' EP 2002)
09 Music By The Metre (out-take 2004)
10 Only Way Out (b-side of 'Come Along' 2007)
11 Hang Around (b-side of 'Come Along' 2007)
12 Never Need To Know (b-side of 'Come Along' 2007)
