Junkyard built on this reputation in the sweaty, beer-soaked dive bars of East Hollywood. In a city awash in a sea of hairspray, lipstick and power ballads their appeal was immediate, and after a show with Jane’s Addiction at L.A.’s legendary Scream Club, Geffen Records pounced.
The band’s self-titled debut was released in 1989 to significant acclaim. Dubbed “a swaggering mutation of Motörhead and ZZ Top,” it garnered rave reviews (including four stars from Rolling Stone) and yielded sales in excess of half a million units. Both its singles, “Hollywood” and “Simple Man,” received major MTV airplay, with “Simple Man” hitting #47 on the Billboard rock chart. The next year, Junkyard released its sophomore album, “Sixes, Sevens and Nines.” Produced by Ed Stasium (Motörhead, Ramones), the album featured songwriting collaboration with country legend Steve Earle (“Slippin’ Away”). A tour of England with The Almighty followed, as well as a North American arena tour opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd. After the success of their first two albums, Junkyard went back to the drawing board for what was to be their third release, but changing musical tastes led to recording upsets and Junkyard disbanded. In 2014, Geffen re-released Junkyard’s first two albums and the band was once again in demand. Tours of Japan and Europe followed, including co-headlining the Serie Z festival in Spain, performing to over 10,000 fans–many of which had waited decades to get a glimpse of the band in action. In 2015, Junkyard released the single “Faded b/w The River” and was promptly signed by Los Angeles indie, Acetate Records. “High Water” their first album for Acetate, is a take no prisoners collection of raw punk rock blues that picks up where the band left off. U.S. and European tour dates will follow, including a performance April 29, at the M3 Rock Festival @ Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.