Not Daniel Johnston

Most of the early Trance Syndicate bands (Ed Hall, Drain, Crust) were sorta like junior proteges of the Surfers, though later on that changed, especially when King Coffey and Craig Stewart split the company into Trance and Emperor Jones. Craig's tastes are more droney (American Analog Set, My Dad Is Dead, Black Mayonnaise ) and ultra-obscure (Pip Proud, Mittens on Strings, Lord Fyre). (This has always seemed odd to me, because if you get stuck in a car with Craig, he plays nothing but 100% hardcore Houston geto rap at top bass-blasting volume...)

After Ed Hall broke up, they partially regrouped first as Gold, then all ended up back together as the exceedingly DEVO-esque PONG. King's own band Drain later became more electronica-oriented, essentially making it the ideal bookend for Gibby Haynes and Jeff Pinkus' techno act The Jackofficers.

Paul Leary's sole solo CD, FWIW, reminds me of Hawkwind more than anything else, while Jeff's current combo Honky is Southern balls-out rock and Gibby's Problem (feat. Kyle Ellisonfrom former hair-metal act Pariah and Shandon "Son of Sir Doug" Sahm) is eclectic but still comparatively leans more towards the realm of college-radio alt-rock.

- ndj

BTW: Daniel Johnston has been trying for years to get Gibby to join him and myself to record an album as The Ghastly Trio, but so far it has not even come remotely close to happening. Instead, keep an eye out for The JLA (Dan, me, and Ethan Azarian of the Orange Mothers), after I first crowd-fund a few less ambitious projects (singles & EPs with Dan and various other special guests) under the Not Daniel Johnston and Teenage Hangups monikers.