DEAD END DESTINY Various Artists 1993

 

Discogs

UK indie rock compilation

Tracklist

1	Atomic 61–	RIP	3:39
2	Mudwimmin*–	Wild Bill	3:38
3	Mule–	Tennessee Hustler	1:46
4	Love Cup–	Tearing Water	4:46
5	Action Swingers–	Bum My Trip	3:00
6	Tulips–	Choco Pig	3:56
7	Mantis (2)–	Who Wants To Be A Camel?	5:27
8	The Meathooks–	Hell Generator Dub	3:15
9	Honeymoon Killers*–	Kansas City Milkman	3:43
10	Cell (3)–	Never Too High	5:23

THE DENISON/KIMBALL TRIO Soul Machine 1995

 

Discogs

 

Artist Biography by Craig Harris

Formed as a duo by ex-Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison and ex-Mule, Laughing Hyenas, and Jesus Lizard percussionist Jim Kimball, the Denison-Kimball Trio specialized in cool, jazzy instrumentals. With the addition of reeds player Ken Vandermark in 1995, the group was renamed DK3.

The recipient of a degree in classical guitar from Eastern Michigan University, Denison formed Jesus Lizard in the late '80s with former members of Scratch Acid, David Yow on vocals and David Sims on bass. Although they initially relied on a drum machine, the band was solidified with the addition of drummer Mac McNeilly before recording their debut album, Head, in 1990. Over the next decade, Denison and Jesus Lizard released an additional seven albums before disbanding in 2000.

Performing as a guest on albums by the Revolting Cocks (Linger Ficken' Good), Sally Timms, and Firewater following the demise of Jesus Lizard, Denison joined with Kimball to form the Denison-Kimball Trio. Their debut recording, released in 1994, provided the soundtrack of an indie film, Walls in the City, starring ex-Jesus Lizard frontman David Yow. Their second album, Soul Machine, followed a year later.

Following the breakup of the trio in 1999, Denison toured as a guitarist for Hank Williams III. He formed a new band,Tomahawk, in 2001, with ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier, Melvins bassist Kevin Rutmanis, and Mr. Bungle vocalist Mike Patton.

Tracklist

1		Terminal 2	3:50
2		Soul Machine
3:16
3		Ad Infinitum	3:25
4		Lonely Woman
4:04
5		Factory Loop
4:46
6		Framed	2:18
7		Passing Blue	3:19
8		Blueball Avenue
5:02
9		Trans - Mission	4:03
10		Solitaire	3:02

LAUGHING HYENAS Hard Times 1995

by request

Discogs

Artist Biography by Steve Huey

One of the highest-voltage punk acts to hit the Midwest in the late '80s, the Laughing Hyenas matched the thudding grind of the Stooges with the bluesy, scuzzed-up post-punk of the Birthday Party and Pussy Galore. At first, the band specialized in noisy dirges overlaid with the tortuous, throat-shredding vocals of frontman John Brannon. As time passed, their blues connections became more and more explicit, looking back to the Rolling Stones and original sources like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. However, the Hyenas weren't quite prolific enough to take their place alongside similar indie stalwarts like Royal Trux or the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and quietly faded away.

The Laughing Hyenas were formed in Ann Arbor, MI, in 1985 by vocalist John Brannon, formerly of area hardcore band Negative Approach, and guitarist Larissa Strickland, who'd been playing her instrument for a scant six months and had previously been in a local group called L-Seven (not the L7 who later went on to grunge-metal fame). The two added bassist Kevin Strickland and drummer Jim Kimball, and quickly made a name for themselves on the Detroit-area scene. Signing with noise rock specialists Touch and Go, the Laughing Hyenas issued their six-song debut EP, Merry-Go-Round, in 1987, with production by a pre-Nirvana Butch Vig. The full-length You Can't Pray a Lie followed in 1989, and the group went on tour supporting Sonic Youth.

1990's Life of Crime was hailed by many as the Hyenas' most fully realized album to date, but it proved to be the original lineup's last hurrah. Kimball and Kevin Strickland both departed to form the roots-punk outfit Mule with P.W. Long in 1991. Brannon and Larissa Strickland regrouped with a new rhythm section of bassist Kevin Reis and onetime Necros drummer Todd Swalla. Still coming together, the new version of the Hyenas cut the Crawl EP in 1992, but further turnover ensued when Reis decided he couldn't tour as extensively as the band wanted to. He was in turn replaced by Ron Sakowski, also a former member of the Necros. After honing its chemistry via heavy touring, the band finally returned in 1995 with Hard Times, the bluesiest album in their discography. After a long break, Brannon and Sakowski fronted the group Easy Action, which issued a self-titled debut in 2001. Larissa Strickland passed away on November 4th, 2006.  

Tracklist

1. Just Can't Win
2. Hard Time Blues
3. You're So Cruel
4. Stay
5. Slump
6. Home of the Blues
7. Each Dawn I Die

P.W. LONG WITH REELFOOT Push Me Again 1998

Discogs

Artist Biography by Zac Johnson

P.W. Long first surfaced as the vocalist for the Michigan-based Wig (appearing only on the 7" Just Obscene and the indie release Lying Next to You), billing himself as Preston Cleveland. After the single's release in 1991, Long left to form the disastrously named Nigger Lover, eventually changing the name to N.L. Mule before finally deciding on the more succinct Mule. Backed by Kevin Munro and Jim Kimball, veterans of Ann Arbor's Laughing Hyenas, Mule's eponymous debut was released on Quarterstick Records in 1992, followed by the Wrung EP and the Steve Albini-produced If I Don't Six, both released in 1994.

After abandoning a short-lived tour as an acoustic artist, Long recruited bassist Dan Maister and former Jesus Lizard drummer Mac McNeilly, recording 1997's We Didn't See You on Sunday under the name P.W. Long's Reelfoot. He recorded another album with this lineup (1998's Push Me Again) before dissolving the band and laying relatively low for a few years. A performance at the Shellac-curated All Tomorrow's Parties in England in 2001 was Long's only major public appearance until the tour for his 2003 album, Remembered (released under the simplified moniker P.W. Long).

Tracklist 

1	Signifyin' Honkey	4:17
2	Say It Ain't So	3:06
3	Eagleeye	3:26
4	Fly Trap Lair	2:47
5	Pooh Butt	3:34
6	Stand Up!	4:08
7	Honey Bee	3:34
8	Jane Dwim	2:47
9	Laughing Eyes	3:31
10	State House	4:30
11	Yo' Money	2:18

MULE

1992

 1994

Thanks for jogging my memory about the band Mule, BenB. I forgot all about them.

 by request

Discogs

Artist Biography by John Bush

Mule's brand of sloppy, whiskey-drenched backwoods punk has a similar feel to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, though vocalist and guitarist P.W. Long's affinity for the Southern hillbillies of traditional country (as well as the shouty forms of Captain Beefheart) gives him a different slant than Spencer's blues- and R&B-influenced shouting. Originally, Long was named Preston Cleveland, and after playing in Detroit's Wig until 1991 (appearing only on the EP Lying Next to You), he formed Mule with bassist Kevin Munro (aka Kevin Strickland) and drummer Jim Kimball, both from Ann Arbor's Laughing Hyenas (whose frontman, John Brannon, is Long/Cleveland's brother). The trio's self-titled debut, released in 1992 by Chicago's Quarterstick Records, was a raucous record full of Long's throaty shouting and bluesy hooks, produced by Steve Albini. After Kimball left to join the Dennison-Kimball Trio, Daniel Jacob Wilson stepped in on drums, and the new trio recorded the Wrung EP and, later in 1994, If I Don't Six. The second LP lacked just a bit of the energy of Mule's debut, but made up for the deficiency with an increased sense of musicianship and several great songs. It was the last album for the trio, though, as Long disassembled Mule to begin playing solo shows in 1996 before forming another band. Always known for picking instrumentalists with more than enough energy to suit his powerful recordings, Long recruited drummer Mac McNeilly (from the Jesus Lizard) and bassist Dan Maister to form P.W. Long's Reelfoot. The group released We Didn't See You on Sunday in mid-1997. 

Self Titled

Tracklist

1	Mississippi Breaks	3:25
2	What Every White Nigger Knows	4:17
3	I'm Hell	3:21
4	Drown	3:25
5	Now I Truly Understand	3:17
6	Mama's Reason To Cry	3:37
7	Lucky	5:16
8	Sugarcane Zuzu	5:21

If I Don't Six

 Tracklist

1	Hayride	3:39
2	X & 29	5:30
3	The Beauteous	5:12
4	Nowhere's Back	6:12
5	Obion	5:09
6	A Hundred Years	5:29
7	Spearfish	6:05
8	Piano	2:06
9	Pent	3:20