Let’s rewind 30 years to the late 90s — the height of a new music revolution at the southern tip of Africa.
Stellenbosch, South Africa had become an unlikely epicentre of post-grunge experimentation. In the years following the end of apartheid, a new generation of musicians were discovering global alternative music and reshaping it through their own lens. The result was a fiercely creative live scene exploding with original, genre-bending bands pushing alternative music into new territory across ska, punk, rock, metal and hip-hop.
In the middle of it all was a group of teenage best friends determined to carve out their own space through heavy music.
This was the origin of SUNFISH — a lightning-in-a-bottle band whose spark burned bright and fast.
Fronted by vocalist Nico Tourelle, with Gideon Kretschmer and Dave Hees on guitars, Martin Jones on drums, and bass duties shared across the years by Jacques du Plessis and later AJ Graham, the band quickly developed a reputation for their explosive energy and fearless experimentation.
Drawing inspiration from the era’s titans — Deftones, Korn, Rage Against the Machine and Limp Bizkit — while still rooted in the darker emotional weight of grunge icons Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden, SUNFISH forged a sound that blended groove, aggression and melody. Their reputation quickly grew thanks to explosive live shows and a raw, unmistakable energy that set them apart from many of their peers.
Between 1996 and 1999 the band entered the legendary Sunset Studios outside Stellenbosch with renowned producer Jurgen von Wechmar, recording nearly twenty tracks across a series of inspired sessions.
This was a different era of recording — pre-digital, pre-ProTools, pre-AutoTune, pre-AI. What remains is something rare: raw, unfiltered analogue recordings capturing a young band discovering its voice in real time, during one of the most exciting periods of the local alternative scene.
A handful of songs surfaced at the time. Tracks appeared on the cult local compilation Wingerdrock, while four more were released on the band’s 1999 EP If Ya Don’t Like This. The rest remained buried in the archives — until now.
INSULTS is a hand-picked collection of ten standout tracks that chart SUNFISH’s evolution during those formative years. Released for the first time through UK indie label HopePunk Records, the album offers a long-overdue snapshot of a band that captured the raw spirit of its time.
Highlights include the progressive heaviness of “My Enemy”, the Adrenaline-era Deftones intensity of “Letter Bomb”, the groove-laden melancholy of “Your Culture’s Gonna Rape Ya”, and the Rage-inspired funk-metal punch of “What Do They Call You”. The record closes with the defiant blast of “If Ya Don’t Like This” — a fitting final statement of pure late-90s attitude.
A time capsule. A rediscovery. A reminder of what happens when raw energy meets the right moment.
This is SUNFISH.
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