Monsterland formed as an indie rock outfit in Connecticut and drew frequent comparisons to Tumbleweed and the Pooh Sticks, prompting the tongue-in-cheek, possibly accurate tag “Best Band From Danbury.” During 1994 Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore declared that “Danbury is going to be the next Seattle,” reflecting an unusually busy cluster of local indie groups. From that fertile scene Monsterland emerged as one of its most accomplished acts, yet the group never attained the wider success or recognition it appeared to merit. Core members included Thom Monahan, Todd Cronin, and Greg Vegas. The band’s debut single, “Nobody Loves You/Used to Smile,” appeared on Threshold in 1991 and was followed by the Rockville release “Get Out of My Head/Plastic Vegas Hate Fuck.” In 1993 the trio issued its sole album, Destroy What You Love, through Seed Records, which maintained a distribution arrangement with Atlantic; that connection produced a tour alongside Madder Rose, a pairing that persisted in critical commentary despite clear stylistic differences between the two groups. Also in 1993, the EP Loser Friendly surfaced, produced by Ultra Vivid Scene’s Kurt Ralske. Monsterland frequently chose whimsical song titles such as “Jane Wiedlin Used to Be a Go-Go As Far As We Know,” “Bursitis,” and “Chewbacca.” Monahan later joined the alt-country chamber-pop ensemble the Pernice Brothers, whose Sub Pop debut Overcome By Happiness arrived in 1998; he has contributed guitar and production to subsequent Pernice Brothers recordings. Both Monahan and Vegas participated in the collective Bunnybrains, while Vegas supplied tenor saxophone to the “free improv rock/fake jazz band” Hat City Intuitive. The group’s name itself derives from Danbury’s longstanding nickname “The Hat City,” a reference to a long-shuttered Stetson factory.
