Carnival Art

Drawing from the Pixies’ unhinged approach, Carnival Art shaped a mildly warped brand of guitar rock in Los Angeles. The quartet—Michael P. Tak on vocals and guitar, Ed on guitar and vocals, Brian Bell on bass and vocals, and Keith Fallis on drums—issued its first album, Thrumdrone, in 1991 after signing with Beggars Banquet. Neither metallic enough to ride the early-’90s grunge wave nor accessible enough for mainstream listeners, the band found itself stranded and produced a pair of quirky alternative records that went unnoticed before slipping into obscurity. Carnival Art disbanded shortly after delivering its second LP, Welcome to Vas Llegas, and the follow-up EP Blue Food and Black Sparks. One year afterward a version of “Cold Ethyl” surfaced on an Alice Cooper tribute compilation, yet Bell had already started the Spacetwins and would later become a member of Weezer. Under the name Michael Petak, Tak released Pretty Little Lonely in 1994.