The Acarapis woodi is a microscopic parasite that specifically targets honey bees. These mites enter the bee through a small opening called the first thoracic spiracle and lay eggs inside. After maturing and mating inside of the bee, the females leave and hang on the body hair to get in contact with other uninfected potential hosts. The infestation of Acarapis woodi is known as acarine. Of course, this disease is harmful if not deadly to the infected. Fishing For Fishies is about environmental destruction ranging from nature’s interactions with the industrialized world (“The Bird Song”) to our use of plastic (“Plastic Boogie”). However, “Acarine” looks just at the natural world, focusing on the parasite and bringing to mind the decline of honey bee populations and its massive ramifications for humanity.
The song consists of an instantly recognizable 5/4 riff, a strange modulation bridge, and an outro that would fit in at a dark night club. It’s the first track on Fishing For Fishies to dive into the band’s electronic influence, especially techno. This style would grow more popular in the band with further explorations on other albums, like Made In Timeland and The Silver Cord. It even has a callback to the Nonagon Infinity track “Wah Wah” during its intro. While it’s a b-side that hasn’t been played since late 2019, “Acarine” has proven itself to be an influential piece of the Gizzverse, opening the door for a lot of experimentation going forward.
“Acarine” was originally a blues/rock/boogie jam that became an electronic track to fit with the darker tones the band ran into while making Fishing For Fishies. In an interview with RockZone, Stu said “originally ‘Cyboogie’ came from a guitar jam. We added a couple of fun jazz changes and threw some riffs on top. We recorded a couple of takes until we decided to remove the guitars and re-record everything using synthesizers. The first versions did fit in with the rest of the album, and the same thing happened with ‘Acarine’. The harmonica was reminiscent of some of the melodies of the other songs, but it was becoming increasingly darker, so we decided to dispense with the guitars and add the synths.” In Gizzard’s 2019 Reddit AMA Stu said that the first half of the song was written, recorded and mixed first but felt like it needed a place to lead to. The second half of the song was the answer to that issue.
According to the liner notes for Fishing For Fishies, “Acarine” was primarily recorded in Guadalajara and Mexico City while on tour in October of 2018. This is corroborated by the end of KING GIZZ vs KEMONITO, where we see Ambrose recording the harmonica part heard in between the first chorus and second verse of the song in a hotel. While the song was built in Mexico, some drum parts had been recorded at TFS Studios that May and additional overdubs were done in Melbourne from July to November. Only Ambrose (harmonica/vocals), Cavs (drums), Joey (synthesizer) and Stu (drums/shaker/tambourine/bongo/synthesizer/piano/vocals/electric guitar/flute/Mellotron) would play on the track with Stu doing most of the work on a total of ten instruments. The song was mixed by Sam Joseph and Joey.
On February 1st, 2019, the band released the 7” single for “Cyboogie.” The b-side of the release was “Acarine,” making this the first time the song was heard by the public. The release party (with a clip of the song) can be seen in the documentary RATTY. It would be released on Fishing For Fishies on April 26th, 2019.
Initially the band didn’t know how they were going to perform the song live. In an 2019 Reddit AMA done in April, Stu wrote that they hadn’t rehearsed it at all. It made a live debut on 2019-06-26 at Howler in Naarm (Melbourne) and was paired with “Murder of the Universe” — a combination that became common. There are shows where these two were split, such as 2019-07-04 at The Tivoli in Brisbane and 2019-10-06 at the TivoliVredenburg Ronda in Utrecht, but these were exceptions to the rule. It had a decent amount of performances throughout the year, but has not been played since 2019-10-11 at Carlswerk Victoria in Cologne. Live versions do not feature the song’s synth outro.