Despite the fact that Laughing Hyenas formed in late 1984 in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, founding member
John Brannon has alleged that the inspiration for the band came after he and Larissa Stolarchuk, vocalist for the band
L-Seven, saw
The Birthday Party perform in
Detroit in March 1983. Notably, the band produced the album with a then-relatively small producer named
Butch Vig at
Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. The Laughing Hyenas' work with Vig inspired
Nirvana to work with the engineer on some of their records, including
Nevermind. In November 1987, the band performed live on
WCBN-FM, playing much of the material from the new album as well as many of the songs which ended up on their next album. Prior to performing with
Sonic Youth on some dates of their American tour in 1988, Laughing Hyenas recorded their first album, ''
You Can't Pray a Lie'', returning again to work with Butch Vig. Touch and Go released the album a year later in 1989 Around 1990, internal frictions in the band began to come to head. Prior to a short East Coast tour with the band Wig, during which future
Kranky Records founder Bruce Adams served as their roadie, Monroe and Kimball began to regularly play music on the side with Wig's vocalist Preston Cleveland, later known as
P.W. Long. With Long on guitar, Laughing Hyenas recorded an
Alice Cooper composition for the
Sub Pop singles club tribute to Cooper - the song "Public Animal #9.". Laughing Hyenas also performed the song live with Long onstage at
CBGB on the end of the tour. Long, Kimball, and Monroe played their first show together as
Mule, in the spring of 1991. Though referred to initially as a side-project, by the end of the year all three would leave their respective bands to play with Mule permanently. Former
Necros drummer Todd Swalla and bassist Kevin Ries were brought in to replace the rhythm section in 1992, with both members appearing on the
Crawl EP. After playing the band's older material for about a year, they began to write and perform the songs for their third album,
Hard Times. Though the band has seen various drummers throughout its incarnation, the band continues to perform regularly as of 2023. In September 2006, when a reunited Negative Approach played at Touch and Go's 25th Anniversary Block Party in
Chicago, Brannon chose to play the set with Richardson and Sakowski rather than original members Rob and Graham McCulloch. Brannon has since continued to opt to perform with Richardson and Sakowski as Negative Approach continues to tour the world, over fifteen years after their reunion performance in Chicago. Laughing Hyenas guitarist Larissa Strickland died on October 3, 2006, at the age of 46, in North Port, Florida. Strickland was ranked at number 181 on the 2023 revision of
Rolling Stone's 250 greatest guitarist of all time list. Monroe continued playing with Mule until they broke up in 1996, Kimball having left the band several years earlier. Kimball's departure from the band culminated in his forming
The Denison/Kimball Trio with
Jesus Lizard guitarist,
Duane Denison. Kimball additionally hooked up in this period with Australian experimental musician
JG Thirlwell and became a member of his side-project
Foetus. In 1996, Kimball briefly became the drummer for the Jesus Lizard, performing with them and playing on their album,
Blue. Kimball remained an active drummer with the Chicago-based band Ghost Forest through 2025; he died in August of that year at the age of 59. Swalla went on to drum in the Toledo-based
shoegaze band Streamlined who released a self-titled CD in 2001. He additionally went on to drum with blues-rock outfit Boogaloosa Prayer, performing on several of their albums. In 2018, Detroit-based label
Third Man Records re-released Laughing Hyenas' entire catalog on vinyl, adding bonus material to the reissued releases. ==Former members==