Editing Motherhead Bug

{{More citations needed|date=September 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Motherhead Bug
| image             = Motherhead Bug.jpg
| image_size        = 250
| landscape         = Yes
| background        = group_or_band
| years_active      = 1989–1993
| origin            = [[New York City]], New York, U.S.
| genre             = [[Gypsy punk]], [[folk punk]]
| label             = Lungcast Records, PCP Entertainment, Pow Wow Records
| associated_acts   = [[Antony and the Johnsons]], Bela, [[Cop Shoot Cop]], [[Firewater (band)|Firewater]], [[Lubricated Goat]], [[Rasputina (band)|Rasputina]], [[Railroad Jerk]], [[Sulfur (band)|Sulfur]]
| past_members      = [[Railroad Jerk|Jez Aspinall]]<br>[[Byzar|Kit Krash]]<br>April Chung<br>Jim Colarusso<br>Julia Kent<br>[[Railroad Jerk|Tony Lee]]<br>Cyril Mazard<br>Steve McMillen<br>[[David Ouimet]]<br>Steve Ovenden<br>Joe Ben Plummer<br>Tomoyo T.L.
}}

'''Motherhead Bug''' was an American [[folk punk]] band, founded in 1989 in [[New York City]] by singer and [[trombone]] player [[David Ouimet]] and [[bass guitar]]ist [[Tony Lee]].

==Band history==
Ouimet had earlier founded industrial rock group [[Cop Shoot Cop]], and Lee was a member of blues rockers [[Railroad Jerk]].

The group was rather large, featuring three [[drummer]]s, as well as [[string instruments|string]] and [[horn section]]s, with [[accordion]]s, [[xylophone]]s and other unusual instruments featured prominently. The music is somewhat similar to [[Tom Waits]]' post-''[[Swordfishtrombones]]'', but also touched on [[music hall]] songs, [[nursery rhymes]], [[marching band]]s, and earned comparisons to the [[Penguin Cafe Orchestra]].

Motherhead Bug released only two singles and one full-length album, 1993's ''[[Zambodia]]'', recorded by Brooklyn-based producer [[Martin Bisi]]. The album was dedicated to saxophonist [[Masami Shinoda]]. One critic described ''[[Zambodia]]''  as follows: "The instrumentation and Ouimet's theatrical vocals lend a [[decadent]] grandeur to [[Kurt Weill|Weill]]-esque numbers like 'Demon Erection' and 'My Sweet [[Military Strategic and Tactical Relay satellite|Milstar]].' It may be [[burlesque]], but it's still pretty scary stuff."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/cop-shoot-cop/|title=Cop Shoot Cop|website=Trouserpress.com|accessdate=8 September 2020}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
The project was abandoned after ''Zambodia'''s release due to the inability to manage so many band members. Ouimet stopped writing music and focused on working on children's books, although he would occasionally appear as a guest musician. He would not work as a full-time member of a band until the release of [[Firewater (band)|Firewater's]] ''[[Get Off the Cross, We Need the Wood for the Fire|Get Off the Cross...]]'' album in 1996. Michele Amar's similar musical project, [[Sulfur (band)|Sulfur]], released ''[[Delirium Tremens (Sulfur album)|Delirium Tremens]]'' in 1998 which was co-written by Ouimet and featured some of the same musicians that performed on ''Zambodia''.

==Discography==
===Studio albums===
{|class="wikitable"
!Date
!Title
!Label
|-
|1993
|''[[Zambodia]]''
|Pow Wow Records
|}

===Singles===
{|class="wikitable"
!Date
!Title
!Label
|-
|1991
|''Raised By Insects...Bugview''
|Lungcast
|-
|1992
|"Age of Dwarfs"
|PCP Records
|}

===Compilation appearances===
{|class="wikitable"
!Date
!Title
!Track
!Label
|-
|1992
|''[[Mesomorph Enduros]]''
|"Blister"
|[[Big Cat Records|Big Cat]]
|-
|1992
|''Manhattan on the Rocks''
|"My Sweet Milstar"
|Pow Wow Records
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071213210924/http://www.builtonaweakspot.com/2007/10/motherhead-bug.html Built on a Weak Spot]
*[http://www.goldenflyrecords.com/Goldenfly_Artists.php Goldenfly Records]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071208124506/http://www.perteetfracas.org/zine/oldies/motherhead.htm Perte et Fracas]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Punk rock groups from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American experimental rock groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1989]]
[[Category:Gypsy punk groups]]


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