REEF - REPLENISH
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Reef were an English rock band from Butleigh, near Glastonbury. The band members included Gary Stringer on vocals, Kenwyn House on guitar, Jack Bessant on bass and Dominic Greensmith on drums. Their second album, Glow, is ranked at number 26 in Kerrang!'s "100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die " list.

However, that's another story. We're here to talk about their, now gold, 1995 debut album release, Replenish. In March of 1995 REEF released their debut single ‘Good Feeling’ which peaked at No.24 in the UK charts.

This was followed quickly by ”Naked” which charted at No. 11 in the UK charts and ensured their first appearance on Top Of The Pops.

The album was recorded in the remote Cornish Sawmills recording studio and in a studio in Bath. And on June 19th ‘Replenish’ was released, charting at No. 9. The album was ranked at #10 on Kerrang!'s 1995 list. The band has a very funky, raw blues-rock 'n' roll essence to their sound built around an intense guitar-driven sound and the raspy howl of front man Gary Stringer. They sound like a bastard stepchild produced from The Rolling Stones and Led Zepplin spending the night with Jimi Hendrix in some shady back-alley street of Nawlins one dark and dreary night.

"We wanted our first album, Replenish, to be a really honest statement. Four people playing in a room and getting something that’s totally their own. It was recorded in the most basic way possible. Minimal room sounds. Up until recently, all I used for effects was a wah-pedal and I only used that on two songs." -- Kenwyn House.

A few facts about the band:

Some of the members of Reef are extremely keen surfers, which explains many of the themes of surfing incorporated into their music and indeed the group's title.
Track 5 on Replenish, entitled "Mellow", features the sound of swans in the final moments, taking off from the estuary where the Sawmills recording studio is located. The track was recorded outside, during a rainy night, on a jetty.
Contrary to the popular belief that Reef chose their name as it is an anagram of Free, the name arose because of a misunderstanding.“We didn’t want anything specific like The Dirty Ashtrays. Anyway, Dom says, ‘Right I’m going to ring up the BBC and find out the name of the girl on the testcard, just for a vague angle, to give us some inspiration. So he rings up and finds out her name is Carole Hersee and Jack mishears him and goes, ‘What? Coral? As in reef? And Gary goes, ‘Reef? Yeah?’