Fury 66

Fury 66 (sometimes called Fury for short) was an American melodic punk rock/hardcore band from Santa Cruz, California that existed from 1993 to 1999. They released 3 full-length records, 3 seven inches, and appeared on multiple compilation CDs.
History
The original line-up consisted of Joe Clements (Vocals), Rye Crowen (Guitar), Russ Rankin (Guitar), Tom Kennedy (Bass) and Aaron Sonnenshein (Drums). They recorded a 7 song demo tape (1993) with this line-up and played their first group of shows including their debut Santa Cruz show with NOFX.
Aaron Sonnenshein left the band shortly thereafter and was replaced by Rich McDermott who was also playing in Good Riddance at the time, which caused an overlap where three members of Good Riddance (Rich, Tom & Russ) were playing in both bands at the same time. The band recorded the American Clown 7" (1994) for Half Pint Records with this lineup. Tom Kennedy quit Good Riddance around this time to focus all of his efforts on Fury 66. Soon thereafter, Good Riddance signed to Fat Wreck Chords and Russ and Rich were kicked out of the band because they were not able to dedicate as much time. The group forged on by adding Dog (formerly of Mock) on guitar and Little Joe (Formerly of Riff Raff) on drums. This line-up is considered by some to be the darkest time for the band, their existing songs suffered, and they went on a sort Northwestern US tour and quickly kicked Tom, Dog and Little Joe out of the band upon arriving home.
Caught at a crossroads, original members Joe Clements and Rye Crowen started putting together a new line-up. They recruited Brian Zeal (Formerly of Heater, and also co-owner of Half Pint Records) to fill on Drums and Micky Dunegan (Formerly of Heater) as a permanent member on Bass. In the interim, Russ Rankin filled in on guitar for a few scheduled shows while they found a permanent replacement. They recruited Jon Cattivera (of Illiterate) on guitar and backing vocals. The new line-up quickly got the band back on their feet with a new energy, and within a few months they were in the studio recording their first full length CD "No Perfect Machine" with Bart Thurber at House of Faith in Oakland, CA. The album came out on Half Pint Records in 1995 and Brian was unable to tour, so Kevin Rafferty joined the group on drums and they embarked on their first full U.S. Tour. Jon quit Illiterate to focus on Fury 66, and they kicked Kevin out of the group shortly thereafter and Brian Zeal again filled in on drums for additional writing, recording and west coast tour dates. They recorded 4 more songs with Bart Thurber (My Old Man, Crowded Streets, Insecurity and Egostatistic) with Bart Thurber for a few different compilations, including Punk Bites (Fearless Records) and a split-7" with Screw 32. Scott Batiste later joined the band on drums and they went on a second full U.S. Tour and additional West Coast shows.
Scott Batiste was later kicked out of the band and Brian Zeal again filled in on drums to record a new 7" for Sessions Records. The 7" was produced by Russ Rankin and recorded at Razor's Edge studios in San Francisco, CA. The 7" was released and the band recruited Joe Haberman of Redfish (aka Joe Fish) on drums to go on a Western US tour. The tour never happened because of van trouble. The recent recording and canceled tour proved to be a frustrating time for the band, and they decided they needed a change of direction. A few weeks later the band kicked out Jon Cattivera, replaced him with Jeff Frady on guitar and added Joe Haberman as a permanent member on drums.
Their second full length, "For Lack of a Better Word" was recorded for Sessions Records, co-produced with Doug Sangalang (Screw 32, Limp, One Time Angels). Supported by touring with AFI, Good Riddance, 88 Fingers Louie and Ensign, among others. The final member change came with Zach Hunter on guitar and vocals (Nothing Substantial / ). They went into the studio to record 4 songs which later became their last recording ever. The songs can be found on the band's last release, "Red Giant Evolution.", which also includes the out of print S/T Sessions seven inch, a demo version of "No Apologies," the unreleased "Sunday Again" and a cover of "World Peace" by the Cro-Mags.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu