Mind Funk

Time for yet another “forgotten rock hero” entry, this time on Mind Funk (aka Mindfunk without the space), a New Jersey band loosely associated with the grunge movement, in time as well as style, despite living on the other side of the country from Seattle.  They only have three albums, Mind Funk [self-titled] (1991), Dropped (1993), and The People Who Fell From The Sky (1995), the last being an import.

 The first album was good, but mostly stock metal and not overly original.  Dropped, though, knocked my socks off.  This was one of those rare albums where you’re so stunned, you literally listen to it over and over again, nonstop, for weeks, and never get tired of it.  People was a bit of a letdown: somewhat of a bad copy of Dropped, but still quality.  Inevitably Dropped would set a standard they couldn’t hope to meet again.

 Recently the CD inserts, particularly for digitally remastered albums, have improved dramatically, offering extensive liner notes instead of the simple sheet with track listings.  Although these CDs lack these, those for other bands frequently describe the background and environment in which a particular album was made, and very often some of the best albums were made in the least auspicious circumstances. I recall a comedy sketch in which a country/western singer’s manager advises the singer’s girlfriend to leave him abruptly, because the singer writes his best material when heartbroken, but only writes trite garbage when he’s happy and in love. Likewise, Wish You Were Here was a battle to put out, Back in Black was made in the shadow of Bon Scott’s death, and Dropped was made immediately after the band had been dropped by their prior record label.  The latter album is much darker, much more twisted and unconventional than the prior album, and this strange added ingredient is what makes Dropped so much different – and better – than not only their first album, but much of metal and grunge as well.  Makes you wonder if the second album would have been nearly as good had they not been dropped – at the very least, they’d have had to find another name for it.

 The Dropped lineup was Patrick Dubar (vocals – on all 3 albums), Louis Svitek (guitar, also on all three albums), Jason Everman (guitar, formerly with Soundgarden), John Monte (bass), and Shawn Johnson (drums).  It was also recorded in Seattle, of all places -  this no less than two grunge references.  Track listing: “Goddess” >> “Closer”, “Drowning”, “In the Way Eye”, “Zootiehead”, “Wisteria”, “Mama, Moses And Me” (a tribute to male self-abuse), “11 Ton Butterfly” ,”Hogwallow”, “Billygoat”, and “Hollow”.  Not a single bad track in there. 

 I had tickets to see this tour at the Bayou in DC, only to get there and find the show cancelled.  Back then I had sent away to the band for a t-shirt, only to find they were all sold out, so they sent me a hat and a lyric sheet from Dropped instead.  The band broke up after People.  They don’t seem to have a website presence, their only fansite was last updated in 2002, and the Wikipedia entry indicates rumors, dating from 2007, of an album of unreleased material forthcoming, with no way to verify this.  So far as I can tell, the band is dead for the indefinite future.  It’s a shame, as the material was definitely quality, as much so as many bands surviving and continuing to tour.