0 Page 8--The Michigan Daily- Wednesday, October 10, 1990 Laughing Hyenas share their gift by Kim Yaaed Technically speaking, as guitarist Larissa Strickland wrote in my note- book, the Laughing Hyenas equal ,"New Orleans Dixieland, St. Louis Miles Davis Jazz, Chicago Blues, Motor City born, NYC taught, At- lantic City gamblers, Pistons, Stooges, Billie Holliday and Aus- tralian prisons." The Laughing Hyenas, deemed so by vocalist John Brannon, has been on the music circuit since 1985. ,New York City, Berlin and Vienna rank as the band's favorite cities to play. Recently, they toured Europe "exclusively," performing 21 shows in 22 days. The Hyenas have not returned to Berlin since the Wall has been torn down. They did, however, receive a "fan mail" letter from Switzerland that blamed them for the Wall's demise. They had played there a sport time before it was decided that th, Wall would be destroyed. Larissa is the lone female in the >Hyenas' line-up. Bassist Kevin -trickland - Larissa's brother, drummer Jim Kimball and vocalist Brannon are the other members. But, acoording to Larissa, the only differ- ence between them is that "I piss sit- ting down." The feelings coming from the band's songs are group emotions. Playing, writing and performing is their form of release; their songs are "frighteningly and intensely autobi- ographical." Larissa described the band as "spontaneous combustion." Laughing Hyenas' latest release, Life of Crime , is named after a tune by L.A. band The Weirdos. The al- bum cover work was done by Bill Widener, a huge Hyenas fan. Because he was so dedicated to them, they de- cided to ask him to do the cover. The cover itself is symoblic of the Laughing Hyenas. There's a heart on it with four arrows piercing it, one for each of them, and the other sym- bols describe them as well. As Larissa put it, "We're gamblers, card players, musicians and pool sharks." There are a lot of Laughing Hye- nas groupies as well. "Who anyone goes home with is who anyone goes home with... personally, I'm just usually left with my guitar," Larissa said. People follow the Hyenas from city to city, even in Europe. "They understand our music sometimes more than we do." Larissa said. RECORDS Continued from page 7 LaughingHyenas Life of Crime Touch and Go Okay, here we go again. Another g-band claiming that they got their decadence from my hometown De- troit and their rock roots from Ann Arbor. You'll never hear this carnage pumping from the back of a low rider on Woodward avenue. Actually, the Hyenas are barren. They are harsh. They are squalid. They do a remarkable job of creating the noize that accompanies shaved-head degen- erates headed to Detroit's Shelter and urban malcontents sworn to destroy the city's middle class as well. The Laughing Hyenas have a very effective tone, sort of like the AIDS-infected edge of a rusty,' scummy razor blade. While many bands try to be noisy - Band of Su- sans, Volcano Suns and various Sub Pop bands for example; the Hyenas simply are noisy. Forget Lynyrd Skynyrd and Jimmy "In My Time Of Dying" Page's six-guitar salutes. Guitarist Larissa Strickland dumps rock's in- fernal tower of power standards and' testosterone obsessions of feedback' masturbation all at once - basi- cally, she's a one-woman show. Strickland puts away the overblown' cravings of kool metal chicks long-' ing for hairy motherfuckers named:@ Biff through malevolent riffs that'd do Page proud. The screamer, John Brannon,. impresses me with his steadfast re-, fusal to ever drop below the aural: range of chainsaws buzzing through' solid rock. His lyrics are mostly in- comprehensible, and that's just fine.# With chaotic jam sessions like: "Kick" and search-and-destroy work- outs like "Wild Heart," the Laughing: Hyenas produce a rather visceral,+ touching frenzy. Life of Crime is ul- timately a good, if unexceptional, album. -Forrest Green III Wow, man. I was really trippin' out and I had this vision of the Laughing Hyenas standing outside a barn lookin' really sinister, almost evil. I'm never touchin' that shit again. The Hyenas manage to keep their material fresh by changing the set each night just a little. They play each song differently, depending upon the audience, the atmosphere and the environment. "You can't play it the same way twice," said kd i_ e'f' SYRACUSE ABROAD Larissa. "It's definitely better live; we are a live band... The studio is a captured feeling... a testament of what happened that day at that time." Larissa has developed a metaphor for the Laughing Hyenas' relation- ship with their audience. "We are brains and brawn, broken guitar strings, feedback, screaming vocals, booming bass and a monster drum- mer." The audience is "sweaty, im- mediate and part of them; they reach out to us and we give it back." As it stands, the Hyenas are not planning on making music a career, so to speak. "If you make it a career, you're prostituting your music," ex- plained Larissa. As she sees it, their future can go one of four ways: "We g0 01' t4R Michigan's BIrkemsg.(k Last "Service that brings you to your feet$ Sandals, clogs, & shoes for all-weather comfort Repair Service 631644 209 N.4th Ave. (By Kerryown) Mon-Sat 10.8 can get really popular, end up dead, in jail or teachers and scholars... We're not Rhodes Scholars; we're road scholars." In actuality, the band sees them- selves as heading for some time off. Not yet, though. They will be the support band for Sonic Youth's Goo Tour from Texas to California. Al- though they are excited about play- ing with this talented band again and to large audiences, Larissa said, "We've played to one person and we've played to three thousand, and it doesn't make any difference what- soever; the output is still the same. We don't judge our audience. It's important for a musician not to tell the audience what to do and how to react." The Laughing Hyenas' music is "spirit, agression, sex, guilt, confu- sion, sadness and pain," in that or- der. In Larissa's words, "It's a gift; it's not something that you keep for yourself. ,It's a gift for whoever wants to open it." LAUGHING HYENEAS, DUST DEVILS and UNREST play the Heidelberg tonight. Cover: $6. James Gold Mother Fontana/PolyGram James sings "Mouthwash See RECORDS, page' of Study in one of SU's academic programs in England, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Israel, Poland, Hungary and other locations for a semester, a year or a summer of study abroad. SEND TODAY FOR OUR CATALOG! L E SB GAVY IAN AND A F NI 'S Name Address ki'nko's& Macintosho Rental $4 per hour Open 24 Hours 540 E. Liberty 761-4539 1220 S. University 747-9070 In store rental, with coupon expires 1/1/91 JEANS DAY Wear your jeans to show your support for lesbian and gay men's civil ights. 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