Loudhouse

Detroit's Loudhouse was formed in 1989 and are best remembered for supplying post-grunge hitmakers Sponge with the majority of their personnel. In contrast to their radio-friendly successors, Loudhouse fused grimy punk, hard rock, industrial metal, and alternative metal in the style of Helmet and Jane's Addiction. The band consisted of vocalist Kenny Mugwump (born Kenny Greenbaum), guitarist Mike Cross, bassist Tim Cross (his brother), and drummer Vin E. (born Mark Dombrowski). After building a local following around Detroit, Loudhouse scored a deal with Virgin, which issued their debut album, For Crying Out Loud, in 1991. Their industrialized cover of "Smoke on the Water" was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Point Break, but it failed to win the band a broad audience. In 1992, Virgin Records dropped the band due to the commercial failure of the album. Loudhouse then added second guitarist Joey Mazzola to the lineup. They had started work on a second album, and a promotional video was created for the new song "Straw Man"; however, the group disbanded later that same year. Vin E. (partially reverting to the name Vinnie Dombrowski), the Cross brothers, and Mazzola quickly regrouped in Sponge. Jimmy Paluzzi was added on drums since Dombroski switched to vocals. They released their gold-certified debut album, Rotting Pinata, in 1994. Guitarist Mike Cross died on March 6, 2022 at the age of 57.