Bughouse - Every Fool In Town (1991)

Sydney band Bughouse was a difficult band to pigeonhole. Even the band members themselves admitted to not knowing how to describe their sound, which incorporated wiry funk rhythms, punk tempos, folksy touches and big rock guitar riffs. Bughouse built up a following on the Sydney scene and issued its debut single, 'V For Vendetta'/'Burn It Back', on its own Ursula label in November 1989.

The band followed up its debut with a single that combined an idiosyncratic cover of Jefferson Airplane's 'Somebody to Love' on the A-side with a funky rendition of Radio Birdman's 'New Race' on the flip. The Bughouse EP from 1990 highlighted singer Lea Cameron's commanding voice and the band's assured backing. The band issued two more independent singles, `Hell for Leather' and `Rare Occasion', before signing to Mushroom's subsidiary label White. The band's debut album Every Fool in Town was uncharacteristically restrained and, following its release, the band left White.

The sessions for the proposed second album were truncated, which resulted in a CD EP, `Bardo', issued through Mushroom Distribution Services (MDS). The term `Bardo' was taken from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, describing a state of nothingness, being trapped in limbo. The band almost broke up at that stage, but persevered. Nick Fisher (ex-Wet Taxis, New Christs, Louis Tillett) replaced Brookes. After a difficult phase in Bughouse's career, the second album, Fink Tank (June 1994), gave full vent to the band's fiery passion.