Marijuana Deathsquads is an American music group based in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, Minnesota. The group's sound has been described by ''

City Pages ''City Pages'' was an alternative newspaper serving the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. It featured news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews and music criticism, available free every Wednesday. It ceased publication in 2020 due to a ...

'' as "ear-bending improv/dance grooves that defied listener expectations and spit in the face of easy categorization."

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

described the group as "a thrilling, relentless bombardment of sight and sound."

History

Formed in 2009, the band consists of Ryan Olson of

Gayngs Gayngs is a Midwest indie band with a 1980s soft rock-inspired sound. Founded by Ryan Olson, the group consists of 22 musicians, including Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Dessa and P.O.S of Doomtree, Har Mar Superstar and members of Poliça, Megafaun, ...

, Isaac Gale, Stef Alexander (a.k.a. P.O.S), Ben Ivascu of

Poliça Poliça (often stylised in all caps) is an American pop band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, formed in 2011. The band consists of Channy Leaneagh (vocals, synth), Chris Bierden (bass), Drew Christopherson (drums) and Ben Ivascu (drums), with Ryan ...

, Mark McGee of To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie, and Jeremy Nutzman (a.k.a. Velvet Negroni). Frequent collaborators include Channy Leaneagh and Drew Christopherson of Poliça,

Har Mar Superstar Sean Tillmann-Hauser (born February 6, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He has performed and released studio albums as Sean Na Na and as a member of hardcore band Calvin Krime, but is best known for his work under the name Har M ...

, and

Jim Eno Jim Eno (born February 8, 1966) is an American drummer and one of the founding members of the Austin, Texas band Spoon. He is also a record producer and a semiconductor chip designer. Overview Eno was born in Rhode Island. He studied electrical ...

. In 2011, the group released its first studio album, ''Crazy Master''. In 2011, singer Isaac Gale won the ''

'' Best Male Vocalist award, his singing described as "a

poltergeist In German folklore and ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; ; or ) is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of polter ...

creeping out of a snowy, crackling television screen, Gale's tortured, throaty hollering is the stuff of zombie nightmares, simultaneously gut-wrenching and enthralling." In 2012, the group released the ''Tamper Disable Destroy'' mixtape. In 2013, the group released ''Music Rocks I & II'', two EPs featuring Ryan Olson, Isaac Gale, Jason Power, Ben Ivascu, Channy Leaneagh, Mark McGee, Jeremy Nutzman, Stefon Alexander, and Madden. In that year, the group released ''Oh My Sexy Lord'', a studio album that ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' called "ferocious" and described as fusing "jagged grooves, scratchy analog effects, and robo-warped vocals into a full-length, experimental freakout." The album features guest appearances from

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon (vocals, guit ...

frontman

Justin Vernon Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known as the primary songwriter and Lead vocalist, frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. He is also a member o ...

frontwoman Channy Leaneagh, and

. In 2016, the group contributed a cover of the song "

Truckin' "Truckin" is a song by the Grateful Dead, which first appeared on their 1970 album '' American Beauty''. It was recognized by the United States Library of Congress in 1997 as a national treasure.''Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip'' . Jake W ...

" to ''

Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead () is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pa ...

'', a

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

tribute album. In 2018, the group released ''Tuff Guy Electronics'', which was recorded at

Pioneer Works Pioneer Works is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit cultural arts center in the Red Hook, Brooklyn, Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City that was founded by artist Dustin Yellin in 2012. Pioneer Works includes a large exhibition spac ...

(

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

) and Funkhaus (

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Style and influences

Chris Reiemenschneider of ''

Star Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the List of newspapers in the United States, seventh- ...

'' stated that "Marijuana Deathsquads has been steadily blowing eardrums, breaking drum heads and tearing at the seams of conventional music-making since its semi-mysterious inception."

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Crazy Master'' (2011) * ''Oh My Sexy Lord'' (2013) * ''Tuff Guy Electronics'' (2018) * ''MDS Sports'' (2024)

Mixtapes

* ''Tamper Disable Destroy'' (2012)

EPs

* ''Music Rocks I & II'' (2013)

Singles

* "The River" (2013) * "The World Beyond" (2019)

References

External links

Official website

Marijuana Deathsquads
at

Totally Gross National Product Totally Gross National Product (abbreviated TGNP) is an American independent record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A musician-run collective, the label was founded by Ryan Olson and Drew Christopherson, who played in a number of Twin Ci ...

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 2009 Electronic music groups from Minnesota Musical groups from Minneapolis