''Funland'' is the third album by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

improvisational Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

band Unknown Instructors, featuring

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ca ...

( The Minutemen, fIREHOSE,

The Stooges The Stooges or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexande ...

Dos DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

Banyan A banyan, also spelled banian ( ), is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as ...

George Hurley George Hurley (born September 4, 1958) is a drummer noted for his work with Minutemen and fIREHOSE. Music career Early years Originally from the East Coast, Hurley and his family moved to San Pedro, California, when he was six years old. ...

(The Minutemen, fIREHOSE,

Red Krayola Red Krayola (originally Red Crayola) is an American avant rock band from Houston, Texas formed in 1966 by the trio of singer/guitarist Mayo Thompson, drummer Frederick Barthelme, and bassist Steve Cunningham. The group were part of the 1960s ...

), Joe Baiza (

Saccharine Trust Saccharine Trust is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1980 by singer Jack Brewer and guitarist Joe Baiza. The band would frequently perform with SST labelmates Minutemen and Black Flag. However, Baiza descri ...

, Universal Congress Of), poet/saxophonist Dan McGuire. The album features guest vocals by David Thomas (

Pere Ubu Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their ...

) and artist

Raymond Pettibon Raymond Pettibon (born Raymond Ginn, June 16, 1957) is an American artist who lives and works in New York City. Pettibon came to prominence in the early 1980s in the southern California punk rock scene, creating posters and album art mainly for g ...

. The album was recorded at the same time as the previous album, '' The Master's Voice''.

Track listing

#"Maji Yabai" #"Those Were the Days" #"Later That Night" #" Frownland" (

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...

cover) #"Door Of No Return" #"Afternoon Spent At The Bar, Sunny" #"C'mon" #"Chicago, Illinois" #"Lead!" #"No Words" #"No Chirping" #"Last Waltz"

Musical Personnel

- bass, vocals on track 1,8 *

- drums * Joe Baiza - guitar * Dan McGuire - vocals * David Thomas - vocals on track 6 *

- vocals on track 9

Reception

Mark Kemp of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' gave the album three out of five stars. Mike Villano of ''

Metro Times The ''Detroit Metro Times'' is a progressive alternative weekly newspaper located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in the metro Detroit area. The ''Metro Times'' was an official sponsor of the now-defunct De ...

'' praised the "experimental and eclectic sounds" as well as the vocals and said "If you didn't know better, in fact, you might think this is a lost Captain Beefheart album." Punknews.org gave it three and a half stars calling it "a fantastic musical trip." James Yates of ''

Staten Island Advance The ''Staten Island Advance'' is a daily newspaper published in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. It is the only daily newspaper published in Staten Island and the only major daily newspaper focused on covering it exclu ...

'' said "the groove-heavy sinew and heady humor heard on "Funland" provides a singular trip that touches the deep recesses of mind and body, opening all kinds of guarded emotions and new possibilities" but found the 10-minute-long "No Chirping" indulgent. Brian Loeper of ''Spectrum Culture'' was less enamored with the album saying "Under no circumstances should anyone ever listen to this album" and giving it a single star. Graham Sanford of ''

Gapers Block Gapers Block (Gapers Block Media, LLC) was a Chicago-centric web publication focused on covering Chicago culture under the tag line: "''Slow down and check out Chicago''". The site, gapersblock.com, lists local events, aggregates other Chicago blo ...

'' also criticized the album sarcastically calling the band "the '80s punk/alt-rock set...equivalent of the Traveling Wilburys" and compared them to "

The Magic Band The Magic Band was the backing band of American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Captain Beefheart between 1967 and 1982. The band was formed by guitarist Alex St. Clair with Beefheart as the lead singer; eventually, they morphed into ...

as fronted by four

Ken Nordine Ken Nordine (April 13, 1920 – February 16, 2019) was an American voice-over and recording artist, best known for his series of Word Jazz, word jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many advertising, commercial advertis ...

s in search of a roadmap."

References

{{Authority control Unknown Instructors albums Smog Veil Records albums 2009 albums