While the group never gained a mainstream audience, they provided an influence on their contemporaries – most notably ALL, Chemical People and Dag Nasty – alongside of which they are considered early pioneers of melodic hardcore.
Big Drill Car broke up in 1995, but reunited for a one-off series of shows in 2008 and 2009, with the classic original line-up.
Their first shows were a mix of covers (like the Descendents' "I'm Not A Loser" and Dead Kennedys' "Too Drunk to Fuck") and these new originals songs.
After the release of their second album, Batch, Big Drill Car parted ways with the now-"classic" original line-up.
After breaking up, Frank Daly (vocalist) and Mark Arnold (guitarist) joined forces with John Kastner (Doughboys/Asexuals) to form the band All Systems Go!.
Daly worked as a guitar tech for Rocket from the Crypt for a while, then went on to tour manage Reel Big Fish before settling down, getting married and having a family.
On May 23, 2008, it was reported on Punknews.org that Big Drill Car (with the classic Small Block lineup) was reuniting for a series of reunion shows in August, taking place at Huntington Beach's Fitzgerald's Pub[1] and two Southern California dates on the 2008 Warped Tour.
[4] Asked in August 2008 what was next for Big Drill Car, bassist Bob Thomson stated, "I can 100% guarantee there will be no tour, we're all dads with jobs.