Hammerhead

With power and intensity to spare, post-punk hard rock trio Hammerhead could as easily have been called "Sledgehammer" (even if a heavy metal outfit from England hadn't beat them to it). Paul Sanders (vocals, guitar), Paul Erickson (vocals, bass), and Jeff Mooridian Jr. (drums) formed the group in Fargo, ND, around 1990, and moved to Minneapolis, MN, just a few years later. Amphetamine Reptile, which is also located in Minneapolis, released all of their recordings. The band has cited Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle as a guiding influence on their loud, dark, rhythmic approach. Others have compared them to everything from hardboiled pulp fiction authors Jim Thompson and James M. Cain, to brain-pounding noise rock units Unsane, Surgery, and Bastro.

Their vinyl debut was 1991's Peep picture disc single (featuring art by ex-Replacement Chris Mars). It was followed by 1992's Load King, a tour-only single issued on gray vinyl, and 1993's live Evil Twin, another tour-only single. Their first full-length was 1993's Ethereal Killer, recorded while they were still located in Fargo. Next came the Evil Twin EP, which featured the four songs from the previous 7", two from the picture disc, and a re-recorded version of "Load King" (and was originally issued as a yellow-vinyl 10"). They had relocated to Minneapolis by the time 1994's Into the Vortex hit the streets. It witnessed the trio moving their driving, minimalist sound in a more focused -- but no less uncompromising -- direction with lyrics taking on greater importance. The Taxi Driver influence was driven home by couplets like, "Someone should clean this dirty world/someone should save the pretty girls" ("All This Is Yours") and "The rain came down/blood soaked the streets" ("Brest"). Many fans -- and Hammerhead's fans only seem to have increased since they called it quits -- consider 1996's Duh, the Big City their crowning achievement. Unfortunately, it was to be their last full-length recording, and was followed by only one more release, the tour-only Earth (I Won't Miss) single. The beginning of the end had already arrived when Sanders left the group in 1995. Other guitarists were enlisted to take his place, but none quite stuck. He went on to form more RAM (which later disbanded), while Erickson (billed as Apollo Liftoff) and Mooridian Jr. formed Vaz.

from Wikipedia:

Hammerhead may refer to:

The head of a hammer

Fiction

Hammerheads, a 1990 book by Dale Brown.Hammerhead, a 1964 Charles Hood secret agent novel by James MayoHammerhead (film), a 1968 film based on the novel by James MayoHammerhead (1987 film), a 1987 Italian action filmHammerhead: Shark Frenzy a 2005 TV movie starring William Forsythe, Jeffery Combs and Hunter TyloHammerhead, a Rulon character from the TV cartoon Dino-RidersHammerhead (comics), a Marvel Comics foe of Spider-ManHammerhead, the nickname for the Star Wars character Momaw NadonHammerhead Hannigan, the leader of Taurus Bulba's henchmen in the television cartoon series Darkwing Duck

Games and rides

Hammerhead, a heavy helicopter gunship in the video game Command & Conquer 3: Kane's WrathHammer Heads, a 2006 computer game from PopCap GamesHammerhead (attraction), a former ride at Knott's Berry Farm, now defunctHammerhead, a monster truck present in various titles of the Twisted Metal series of video gamesHammerhead Gunship, an A-grav alien tank from the "Dawn of War" video game serie, from the Warhammer 40000 fictional universe.HammerHead Ltd, a defunct software development company based in Britain.

Music

Hammerhead (band), noise rock band"Hammerhead" (Jeff Beck song), a song from the 2010 Jeff Beck album Emotion & Commotion"Hammerhead", a song by Solace's 2006 EP album Hammerhead (vinyl)"Hammerhead" (song), from The Offspring's 2008 album Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace"Hammerhead" (Tin Machine song), a song on Tin Machine's 1991 album Tin Machine II"Hammerhead", a song from the John Zorn album Naked City

Science and technology

Hammerhead sharks (genus Sphyrna), of which there are nine known speciesHammerkop (Scopus umbretta), a bird of order Ciconiiformes, may also be known as a hammerheadHammerhead ribozyme, which can catalyze the sequence-specific cleavage of RNA phosphodiester bondsHammerhead crane, a type of crane

Sports

Jupiter Hammerheads, a minor league baseball team based in Jupiter, FloridaWilmington Hammerheads, a minor league soccer team based in Wilmington, North CarolinaCorpus Christi Hammerheads, a professional arena football teamHammerhead maneuver, an aerobatic maneuver

United States Navy submarines

USS Hammerhead (SS-364), a Gato-class submarine, commissioned in 1944USS Hammerhead (SSN-663), a Sturgeon-class submarine, commissioned in 1968 and struck in 1995