Engine 88 was an American rock band that spawned out of the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1990s.
History Engine 88 (originally known as simply Engine) released three albums and a handful of seven-inch singles throughout the 1990s. The band featured Tom Barnes of the notable college rock band Sordid Humor as lead singer, Damon Wood of Smoking Section on guitar, Eric Knight on bass and Dave Hawkins (also of Smoking Section) on the drums.
Their first 7 inch singles release, Funny Car was put out independently on their own label, Shut Up and Drive in 1993. In 1995, their first full length LP, Clean Your Room was released on Caroline Records, defining their characteristic sound of driving guitars and rhythms counter-acted with introspective and often abstract lyrics. Clean your Room peaked at #42 on the CMJ Top 200 chart.
1997's Snowman followed, to much critical acclaim. Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club praised the album, writing that it "flat-out rocks, with 38 minutes of smart lyrics, driving guitars, and hyper-infectious choruses." He also noted that "singer Tom Barnes has a distinctively cracked lyrical style, and in an ideal world, it’d make him a star."
In 1998 the group disbanded and their final full-length, Flies and Death n' Stuff was released posthumously in 1998 on Wingnut Records.
Engine 88 reunited for a performance at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on October 27, 2006, to celebrate the release of their friends’ book Every Day Is Saturday by photographer Peter Ellenby.
At the prompting of Jawbreaker, Engine 88 agreed to reunite for an appearance at Chicago's Riot Fest on September 17, 2017.
Where are they now? Singer Tom Barnes released a CD entitled Three Day Ditties, which abandoned the louder rock sound of Engine 88, in favor of a more soft rock sound similar to that of his former project, Sordid Humor. His songs have gained a cult following and have been covered live by the band Counting Crows.
In August 2024, Barnes released Last Ride of Mercury Man to streaming formats.
Guitarist Damon Wood is now a software engineer at Pandora performing in a Pretenders tribute band, Message of Love, and in an R&B cover band, Curtis Bumpy, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Bassist Eric Knight works at UC Berkeley and trains and coaches martial arts at SBG NorCal.
Drummer, Dave Hawkins, opened a popular movie rental store, Lost Weekend Video, in San Francisco, with Christy Colcord, who previously booked European tours for many US punk bands (including Green Day), and Adam Pfahler of Jawbreaker.
Band members
Tom Barnes (vocals, guitar) Damon Wood (guitar) Eric Knight (bass) Dave Hawkins (drums)
Albums Title Album details Clean Your Room Released: June 6, 1995 Label: Caroline Records Formats: LP, CD Snowman Released: January 14, 1997 Label: Caroline Records Formats: CD
Singles Title Single details Funny Car Released: 1993 Label: Shut Up and Drive Formats: 7-inch 20 / She Breaks a Bottle Released: 1994 Label: No Life Records Formats: 7-inch Robots Are Real – Split w/ American Sensei Released: 1995 Label: Hep-Cat Formats: 7-inch Funny Car – Split w/ Sincola Released: 1996 Label: Caroline Records Formats: 7-inch Seconal Released: 1997 Label: Caroline Records Formats: 7-inch Manclub Released: 1997 Label: Caroline Records Formats: 7-inch
Samplers / Various Artists Song Compilation Format Label Year GTO Various – Germ's Choice '94 CD, Compilation 911 Records 1994 Spinach Various – CMJ New Music Monthly Volume 23 July 1995 CD, Compilation, Promo College Music Journal 1995 Spinach Various – Caroline Records' Bowling Team Sampler CD, Compilation, Promo Caroline Records 1995 Mangos Various – hu H (CD 8) CD, Compilation Huh Music Service 1995 Mangos Various – Babe, You're No. 1 CD, Compilation, Promo Hits 1995 Spinach Various – CMJ Music Sampler – Hooked CD, Compilation, Promo Sony Music Publishing 1995 Mangos Various – Indie-Gestion 9 CD, Album, Compilation Alternative Press 1995 Seconal Various – How Low Can A Punk Get? CD, Compilation, Promo, Sampler Caroline Records 1996 Funny Car Various – Wild Promotions Compilation Volume 2 CD, Compilation, Promo, Sampler Wild 1996 Manclub Various – Live 105 10 Year Anniversary: 1986–1996 CD, Compilation Live 105 1996 Seconal Various – Killing Cuts 1 CD, Compilation, Cardsleeve Metal Hammer 1997 Manclub Various – Virtually Alternative 77 2×CD, Compilation, Promo The Album Network 1997 Ballerina Various – Vital Distribution At London Music Week CD, Compilation, Promo Vital 1997 Fire Various – Blind Herd Of Sheep: A Compilation Of Berkeley High Bands]] CD, Compilation El Sabado Records 1999 Get Off Various – For Callum 2×CD, Compilation Catlick Records / The Cultural Society / Letterbox 2007 Mangos Various – Virtually Alternative 60 2×CD, Compilation, Promo The Album Network Unknown
References
External links Official Engine 88 Website Site for Preservation of Engine 88's music Engine 88 on Allmusic Video for "Mangos" (Single from Clean Your Room) Engine 88's profile on MySpace Damon Wood's Engine 88 page