Mofungo

Emerging at the intersection of no wave and post-punk, Mofungo operated as an off-kilter noise outfit that specialized in atonalities, squalling sax, and unsettling vocals. Rather than forming in the conventional sense, the group evolved out of Blinding Headache, an ongoing jam session housed in a New York University dormitory. The shift occurred once Rick Brown departed to join Information, at which point Blinding Headache became Mofungo. After serving as backing musicians for Nico, the band issued its debut recording, the Elementary Particles EP, in 1980. The following year brought the full-length End of the World, partially mixed by the dB's' Chris Stamey; critic Robert Christgau’s advocacy secured a U.K. single on Rough Trade. Following 1982’s Out of Line, Seth Gunning exited, drummer Jeff McGovern redirected his energies to the Scene Is Now, and saxophonist A.C. Chubb stepped away to raise a family. Despite the internal changes, that album preserved signature Mofungo numbers—“Three,” “FBI Informant,” and “Migrant Assembly Line Workers”—that remained live staples. Reduced to the duo of Robert Sietsama and Willie Klein, the pair recruited Chris Nelson and Phil Dray, initiating a three-album association with Lost Records, an imprint under Twin/Tone. Frederick Douglass (1985), Messenger Dogs of the Gods (1986), and End of the World, Pt. 2 (1987) earned positive notices; after the last of these, the band toured the Midwest in an RV piloted by Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan. Although quasi-member and producer Elliott Sharp could not join the heartland trek, he arranged a deal with SST, then led by former Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn. The politically pointed Bugged (1988), containing commentary on Robert Bork and the air traffic controllers’ strike, marked their SST debut and was followed in 1989 by their final album, Work. Mofungo concluded its run with a June 1992 performance at CBGB’s in New York.