Laughing Hyenas

Emerging from the Midwest during the late 1980s and early 1990s as one of rock’s most intense and unrelenting acts, the Laughing Hyenas fused the Stooges’ concentrated rhythmic pulse with the raw, blues-tinged post-punk abrasion of the Birthday Party and Pussy Galore. Their earliest recordings centered on dense, ominous slow-burn pieces driven by John Brannon’s ravaged, full-throated delivery, notably across the 1989 release You Can’t Pray a Lie and its 1990 follow-up Life of Crime. Over successive years and personnel adjustments the group’s longstanding affinity for blues traditions grew more pronounced, drawing explicit influence from the Rolling Stones as well as foundational figures such as Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters on the 1995 album Hard Times. Although they never matched the output volume of comparable indie contemporaries like Royal Trux or the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the Laughing Hyenas left a durable imprint on the regional independent circuit and later experienced renewed attention when their full discography received reissues in the 2010s.

The band originated in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1985 when vocalist John Brannon, previously of the seminal Detroit hardcore outfit Negative Approach, joined forces with guitarist Larissa Strickland, who had only six months of playing experience after fronting the local band L-Seven (distinct from the later grunge-metal group L7). They completed the initial roster with bassist Kevin Strickland and drummer Jim Kimball, rapidly gaining traction around Detroit. After aligning with the noise-rock imprint Touch & Go—the same label that had issued Negative Approach and L-Seven material—the Laughing Hyenas delivered their six-track debut EP Merry Go Round in 1987, produced by Butch Vig prior to his work with Nirvana. The first full-length, You Can’t Pray a Lie, also helmed by Vig, appeared in 1989, after which the group toured in support of Sonic Youth and maintained a steady schedule of Midwest headline dates.

Life of Crime, released in 1990 and widely regarded at the time as the quartet’s most cohesive statement, marked the end of the original configuration. Kimball and Kevin Strickland exited the following year to form the roots-punk trio Mule alongside P.W. Long. Brannon and Larissa Strickland recruited bassist Kevin Reis and former Necros drummer Todd Swalla, though the refreshed lineup was still stabilizing when it recorded the 1992 Crawl EP. Reis soon departed over touring demands and was succeeded by another ex-Necros member, bassist Ron Sakowski. Following extensive roadwork that solidified the new chemistry, the band issued Hard Times in 1995, adopting a more streamlined, explicitly blues-rooted direction. After completing the promotional cycle the group disbanded in late 1995.

Brannon and Sakowski later formed the hard-rocking Easy Action, which released a self-titled debut album in 2001. Kimball collaborated with Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison in the Denison-Kimball Trio and joined the Jesus Lizard as its drummer from 1996 until 1998. Larissa Strickland withdrew from music and died on November 4, 2006. In 2018 Third Man Records, working in conjunction with Touch & Go, began a comprehensive series of remastered vinyl reissues covering the Laughing Hyenas’ entire catalog.