Third Man Records has announced the release of the first official live anthology from American noise rock icons Laughing Hyenas, opening a powerful new chapter in the legacy of one of the most uncompromising bands to emerge from the US underground.
That Girl – Live Recordings 1986-1994 gathers 18 live performances drawn from across the band’s turbulent nine-year lifespan, presenting Laughing Hyenas as they were most feared and revered, onstage and unfiltered.
Compiled by founding vocalist John Brannon from his personal archive of cassette tapes, the collection captures performances recorded between 1986 and 1994, a period that spans the band’s rise from Midwest club circuits to national tours and influential college radio sessions. The recordings have been carefully transferred, mixed and mastered by Grammy Award-winning producer Bobby Emmett, preserving the raw intensity of the original tapes while giving the material new sonic clarity.
The anthology’s first preview, Here We Go Again (WNYU Radio, NYC, 1990), documents the band during a New York radio session at the height of their powers. The performance underlines why Laughing Hyenas developed a reputation as one of the most intimidating live acts of their era, driven by Brannon’s feral vocal delivery, Larissa Strickland’s serrated guitar lines and a rhythm section capable of swinging from blues-laden hypnosis to punishing repetition within a single song.
Laughing Hyenas formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the mid-1980s, emerging from the same Midwest underground that produced Negative Approach, Necros and Destroy All Monsters. Brannon, already a cult figure through Negative Approach, joined forces with guitarist Larissa Stolarchuk, later known as Larissa Strickland, after the pair were inspired by a Detroit performance by The Birthday Party in 1983. Relocating from Detroit to Ann Arbor, they assembled a lineup that would soon become known for pushing aggressive rock music into darker, more confrontational territory.
Drawing equally from Detroit punk, Funhouse-era Stooges, early blues and free-form jazz, Laughing Hyenas carved out a sound that felt both primal and deliberate. Their debut EP Come Down To The Merry Go Round was released in 1987 on Touch And Go Records and produced by Butch Vig, years before his work with Nirvana would bring him global recognition. That relationship continued across the band’s studio catalogue, including You Can’t Pray A Lie and Life Of Crime, albums that helped define American noise rock at the turn of the 1990s.
Despite releasing three studio albums, multiple EPs and singles, and touring alongside bands such as Sonic Youth and Killdozer, Laughing Hyenas never translated critical respect into commercial success. Internal tensions and shifting lineups ultimately led to the band’s dissolution in 1995, but their reputation only intensified in the years that followed. For many fans and peers, the band’s true identity was forged live, where their music took on a visceral physical force rarely captured in studio recordings.
That Girl – Live Recordings 1986-1994 finally places that reputation on record. Across four vinyl sides, the anthology moves from early material like That Girl and Sister through later-era performances including Crawl and Just Can’t Win. The sequencing reflects the band’s evolution while maintaining the sense of danger that defined every Laughing Hyenas show.
The release also stands as a tribute to Larissa Strickland, who died in 2006 at the age of 46. Her guitar work remains central to the band’s enduring influence, a combination of jagged precision and corrosive tone that set Laughing Hyenas apart from their contemporaries. In 2018, Third Man Records reissued the band’s entire studio catalogue on vinyl, laying the groundwork for this newly unearthed live document.
That Girl – Live Recordings 1986-1994 will be released digitally and on 2xLP coloured vinyl, including a limited edition 7-inch, on Friday, February 20, 2026 via Third Man Records. More than a retrospective, the album restores Laughing Hyenas to their natural environment, loud, volatile and uncompromising.
Laughing Hyenas
That Girl – Live Recordings 1986-1994
(Third Man Records)
Release Date: Friday, February 20, 2026
Tracklisting
Side A
That Girl
Sister
Lullaby And Goodnight
Love’s My Only Crime
Side B
Let It Burn
Everything I Want
Dedications To The One I Love
Seven Come Eleven
Wild Heart
Side C
Here We Go Again
Public Animal #9
Black Cloud
Crawl
Side D
Just Can’t Win
Each Dawn I Die
I Want You Right Now
Limited Edition 7”
Side A: Stain
Side B: Hell’s Kitchen
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