Too Much Joy: Green Eggs And Crack

The New York snot-rock band Too Much Joy has had great moments (Son Of Sam I Am, much of Cereal Killers), decent moments (Mutiny, …Finally), and legendary moments—which include its arrest for performing 2 Live Crew songs in Florida and its impossibly limited-edition, long-out-of-print, vinyl-only 1987 debut album Green Eggs And Crack. In singer Tim Quirk's marvelous liner notes to the long-awaited CD reissue, he writes: "Green Eggs And Crack, the legend, is perfect: a cool title that people could talk about and search for without any real chance of ever actually hearing it." Ten years later, Quirk states what is painfully obvious to anyone hearing Green Eggs for the first time: It's a thinly produced, underwhelming record recorded by teenagers, and charming mostly for reasons revolving around sentiment and potential. "I'm pretty obviously using Lou Reed as a convenient excuse to not bother singing," Quirk writes, and he's right. But the simple fact of Green Eggs And Crack's existence on CD is a happy thing, and it's long overdue. Here's hoping Too Much Joy's next studio album returns the group to its snotty, scrappy, turn-of-the-decade greatness. (Sugar Fix, P.O. Box 46361, Los Angeles, CA 90046-0361)