San Diego's Olivelawn gloried in brutal, sludgy SoCal punk, releasing two full-length albums in the early '90s before the members parted ways. The group's muscular sound was powered by singer Mike Olson's fierce delivery, the guitars of O (a.k.a. Otis Barthoulameu) and the rhythm section of drummer Eddie Glass and bassist Jonny Donhowe. The short-lived unit released their debut, Sap, on Nemesis Records in 1991, following that with the Headhunter release Sophomore Jinx in 1992. The latter was produced by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Soundgarden). The group's sound displayed a clear debt to such predecessors as the Stooges, Black Sabbath, and the MC5. In retrospect, Olivelawn is important primarily because of O's membership. He would go on to form Fluf, a more successful punk combo that benefited from O's songwriting chops and heavy guitar sound. O was a pervasive presence on the '90s San Diego scene.
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