Fantasy Mission Force

By Steve Huey -Fantasy Mission Force was one of the less prolific projects of the highly prolific Rob Crow, a singer/guitarist/songwriter best known for his involvement in Heavy Vegetable and Thingy. A native of San Diego, Crow formed Fantasy Mission Force with drummer Tim Semple and synthesizer player Pea Hicks (also of Tit Wrench and Lucas & Friends), who handled the bass lines. Crow was still working with his first group, the cult favorite Heavy Vegetable, when he made his first recordings with Fantasy Mission Force circa 1995. This material was in a more traditional punk vein than the quirky, fractured pop of Heavy Vegetable, and three songs' worth appeared on Crow's 1995 split LP with electronica artist Lesser (which also featured 22 other brief tracks by Crow as a solo artist). Heavy Vegetable disbanded that year, and Crow moved on to other ventures. Among them -- albeit to a lesser degree -- was Fantasy Mission Force, which completed its first (and only) official release in 1997; Circus Atari was a 7" EP issued by Vinyl Communications. That same year, however, Crow and Hicks (now spelling his name "Hix") embarked on a side project called Optiganally Yours, a kitschy pop outfit centered around the Optigan, a home organ from the '60s. Both of their albums (from 1997 and 2000) were received well in the indie pop community. In addition to Optiganally Yours, Crow also made some solo recordings and worked with Thingy, Snotnose, Physics, and Pinback.