Happy Go Licky was a short-lived reunion of Washington D.C. hardcore punk

Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 group Rites of Spring

Rites of Spring

Rites of Spring was an American post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C. in the mid-1980s, known for their energetic live performances. A part of the D.C. hardcore punk scene, Rites of Spring increased the frenetic violence and visceral passion of hardcore while simultaneously experimenting with...

. The band formed in spring of 1987 and broke up after their final show at D.C.'s 9:30 Club

9:30 Club

Foo Fighters Promise to come back to D.C. and play the 9:30 ClubNightclub 9:30 is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C. Originally located at 930 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C., in the 1970s it was called the "Atlantis Club", and hosted primarily rock, New Wave, and punk bands...

 on New Year's Day in 1988. The last song they performed at that show was the Rites of Spring song, Drink Deep. (That was the only time the group performed a Rites of Spring song).

Though comprising the same personnel as Rites of Spring (Eddie Janney and Guy Picciotto

Guy Picciotto

Guy Picciotto is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, and producer from Washington, DC.He is most widely known for his role as the guitarist and vocalist of Fugazi, as well as Rites of Spring.-Rites of Spring & Early Projects:...

 on guitar and vocals, Mike Fellows

Mike Fellows

Mike Fellows AKA Miighty Flashlight is an American musician who has performed and recorded with a variety of groups and artists since the early 1980s...

 on bass and vocals and Brendan Canty

Brendan Canty

Brendan Canty is an American musician, composer, producer and film maker, best known as the drummer for the band Fugazi....

 on drums) their music was vastly different. Happy Go Licky was far more experimental

Experimental music

Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

 often incorporating tape loop

Tape loop

In music, tape loops are loops of prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound. Contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen used tape loops to create phase patterns and rhythms...

s and sound effects into their live performances, while their songs were often largely or entirely improvised, and featured unusual structures.

Their short life span did not allow them to ever get into the studio, however a taped live performance has been remastered by Ian MacKaye

Ian MacKaye

Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, label owner, and producer. Active since 1979, MacKaye is best known for being the frontman of the influential hardcore punk bands Minor Threat and The Teen Idles, the post-hardcore bands Embrace and Fugazi, as well...

and is now available on Dischord as Will Play.