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Alice Donut | |
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| Origin | New York City, United States |
| Genres | Grunge, punk rock, psychedelic rock |
| Years active | 1986–1996, 2001–present |
| Labels | Alternative Tentacles, Howler Records |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | www |
Alice Donut is a punk rock band from New York City formed in 1986. [1] The band released six albums before splitting up in 1996. They reformed in 2001.
Alice Donut formed in 1986 after the demise of the Sea Beasts, a band at Columbia University, the name soon trimmed from the initial Alice Donut Liver Henry Moore, a play on "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore". [2] Ted Houghton, Tomas Antona, Dave Giffen and Tom Meltzer recruited drummer Stephen Moses and quickly found a substantial audience at CBGB. Guitarist Michael Jung soon replaced Meltzer. The band's first commercial release was the Donut Comes Alive album, released in 1988 on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label, [3] [4] followed in 1989 with Bucketfulls of Sickness and Horror in an Otherwise Meaningless Life. [5] [6]
In August 1990, the band's debut single, a cover version of "My Boyfriend's Back", preceded third album Mule, released the following month, and described by Trouser Press as "challenging and invigorating". [5] [7] [8] Revenge Fantasies of the Impotent was released in May 1991 (and later included in Andrew Earles' Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996 ), [9] and included an instrumental cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs". [5] [10] Austrian born Bassist Sissi Schulmeister joined the band before the end of the year, [11] with Richard Marshall also joining on guitar. [5]
The band's fifth album, The Untidy Suicides of Your Degenerate Children, was released in September 1992; It was described by CD Review as "a peculiar mixture of ornate and wicked little bits about suicide, strippers, and a disgruntled ex-postal worker". [12] It would be over three years before the bands's next studio album, Pure Acid Park, [13] although a (mostly) live album, Dry-Humping the Cash Cow, came out in 1994. [5] [14]
The band decided to call it a day after playing their 1,000th show, in London on November 25, 1995, and confirmed the split in February 1996. [15] The band's many shows between 1988 and 1996 included tours of the United States, Europe, and Japan, [1] including a performance at the Reading Festival in 1993.
Moses went on to briefly join Rasputina, while Antona and Schulmeister got married and relocated to Durham, North Carolina. [11] [16]
In 2001, Alice Donut started recording and writing again and in 2003 Three Sisters, their first release after their hiatus, was recorded as a four-piece with Tom Antona on vocals, Michael Jung on guitar, Stephen Moses on drums and Sissi Schulmeister on bass. [16] [17]
Guitarist Dave Giffen rejoined the group for Fuzz, which was recorded in Brooklyn's BC Studio with longtime co-producer Martin Bisi, mixed and engineered by Joel Hamilton, and released on September 5, 2006. [16]
The band's tenth studio album followed, Ten Glorious Animals, released in September 2009, again on Alternative Tentacles. [16] [18]
In 2011, the band's 25th anniversary was marked with the documentary Freaks in Love. [16] In 2012, the Freaks in love compilation was released. Alice Donut still performs live on some occasions, like a show in 2014 in France and 2017 in Baltimore, MD at Ottobar.
On November 11, 2016, Tomas Antona stated on Facebook that Alice Donut are writing a new album. No completion or release date was given.
The band has been described as "punk...with elements of oddball country and funk" by Allmusic writer John Bush, [16] and as "abstract metal" by Andrew Earles. [9] The New Yorker described the band as a "dadaist punk ensemble" playing "oddball psychedelic noise-rock with a spiky sense of humor". [2] Trouser Press described the band as "a little bit Zappa, a little bit cacophonous punk", calling it "a belated East Coast response to the Dickies and Redd Kross". [8] Critics also drew comparisons with artists such as Butthole Surfers, Frank Zappa, and G.G. Allin. [6] [8] [9] [13]
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