HAPPY HATE ME NOTS

The Happy Hate Me Nots (HHMN) rumbled out of Sydney in the mid-80s, releasing a slew of singles, and the album 'Out'. Not quite agro enough to be considered bona-fide punk rockers, but too fiery to set up shop in the power-pop neighborhood, HHMN were more in league with home country brethren Hoodoo Gurus and Exploding White Mice. The initial lineup was Tim Mc Kay on guitar, Peter Lennon on bass and vocals, Paul Berwick on guitar and vocals and Mark Nicholson on drums. In 1987 Peter Lennon was replaced by Chris Houllemare (ex-The Someloves). 

In early 1988 the band released their masterpiece, the album 'Out'. This is the record that Waterfront's Chris Dunn reckons is one of the two or three best the label has ever released. From the opening crash intro to "Things Wearing Thin" through to the very end, this is a record that fairly crackles with vitality. Produced by Rob Younger with Alan Thorne again as engineer, it's packed with huge, ringing guitar bits and contains some of the most mind-boggling precision hitting drum work ever heard. With this record the band began to make some headway on an international scale; there was a US release on the large independent Rough Trade that included a CD version. No European release happened but the record was a success in Australia. In 2007 a 40-cut double CD anthology, 'The Good That's Been Done', was released. The band released the album 'Time And The State' in 2011 with Matt Galvin on guitar. Chris Houllemare died in June 2014.

Members

Tim Mc Kay (guitar), Peter Lennon (bass, vocals), Neil Toddie (drums), Mark Nicholson (drums),

Paul Berwick (vocals, guitar), Mick Searson (drums), Christian Houllemare (bass), Matt Galvin (guitar)

SINGLES
''It Won't Do Any Good / Silent Boys / Aren't You Glad You Know'' 1985 Waterfront 
''You're An Angel / What Did They Say'' 1985 Waterfront 
''Salt, Sour And Brighton / Inside'' 1987 Waterfront 
''Don't Move Too Far / Lively Up Yourself'' 1988 Waterfront 
''Soul Rejection / Resistance'' 1989 Waterfront 
''Something / Crucial Time'' 1990 Waterfront 
''I Could See It Coming / Letter To The Company'' 1991 Waterfront 

EPs

'Scrap' 1987 Waterfront

'A Place To Live' 1991 Waterfront

ALBUMS
'Out' 1988 Waterfront 

'Time And The State' 2011 Hate Mail Records 

References

http://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com.au/2008/10/happy-hate-me-nots-out-1988-rough-trade.html