Laughing Hyenas was an American post-hardcore band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, that existed from 1985 to 1995, fronted by Negative Approach vocalist John Brannon.

[1] Though they played with many of the era's most notable acts, including Mudhoney, Dinosaur Jr., and Sonic Youth the band failed to achieve any level of commercial success, breaking up in the mid-90s due to personal issues.

[6][7] Prior to performing with Sonic Youth on some dates of their American tour in 1988, Laughing Hyenas recorded their first album, You Can't Pray a Lie, returning again to work with Butch Vig.

Former Necros drummer Todd Swalla and bassist Kevin Ries were brought in to replace the rhythm section in 1992, with both members appearing on the Crawl EP.

[17] After playing the band's older material for about a year, they began to write and perform the songs for their third album, Hard Times.

[2] Shortly after the end of Laughing Hyenas, Brannon and former Gravitar guitarist Harold Richardson formed the band Easy Action with bassist Ron Sakowski in 1996.

Laughing Hyenas guitarist Larissa Strickland died on October 3, 2006, at the age of 46, in North Port, Florida.

Kimball additionally hooked up in this period with Australian experimental musician JG Thirlwell and became a member of his side-project Foetus.

[27] In 2018, Detroit-based label Third Man Records re-released Laughing Hyenas’ entire catalog on vinyl, adding bonus material to the reissued releases.