Fatso Jetson hail from Palm Desert, California (though the entire band has lived in Los Angeles for the last 8 years). Living in the desert, secluded away from the trendy "scenes" in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, the only places for original music to be played had been pool halls, Mexican restaurants (after hours) and the occasional struggling bar looking to make some fast cash. On many occasions, the only place for a band to play has been in secluded desert canyons powered by a generator. Then in 1994, Mario and Larry Lalli opened the desert's first "rock club". It was at this club that the three decided to form a band.
Fatso Jetson formed after Tony, Mario and Larry spent way too much time together playing pool, drinking beer and watching TV after hours at Mario and Larry's nightclub, "Rhythm & Brews". They decided that since they already played the appropriate instruments, that their time would be better spent playing music.
They played their first show in September 1994, opening for former Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn. On the basis of this show, Greg decided he wanted to release an album with the band on his record label SST. The band then went on to play as many shows as possible including a small 6 show tour with fellow desert dwellers and good friends Kyuss.
Then, in August of 1995, Fatso Jetson's first record, "Stinky Little Gods" was released. Just over 2 years later in November 1997, the band released their second full length opus, "Power Of Three", again on SST. It was around this time that the band hooked up with Brant Bjork (ex-Kyuss, ex-Fu Manchu skinsman, current Brant Bjork and the Bro's/ Low Desert Punk head honcho) who played rhythm guitar. Brant stayed in this capacity until touring with Fu Manchu forced him to leave the band, though he did appear on two 7" releases. One a split with The Bloodshot, and the other a split with Fu Manchu.
In late 1997 Fatso Jetson started to look for another record label and found themselves in the company of Bongload Custom Records. In April of 1998, Tony, Mario and Larry entered Monkey Studios in Palm Springs to record their 3rd full length offering for Bongload, "Toasted", produced by Chris Goss (Masters of Reality). Then in August of 1998, Gary Arce joined the band as a rhythm guitarist for a tour up the coast with Queens of the Stone Age and continued in this role for a while playing on the 'Flames For All' record and toured with the band for a European tour and an appearance at the Dynamo festival in 1999 until he finally departed in April 2000.
In 2001, Fatso Jetson headed back in the studios to record their 5th album 'Cruel & Delicious.' It was recorded by Schneebie of Earthlings? and released on Josh Homme's record label 'Rekords Rekords'. It features 13 songs including a cover of Devo's 'Ton O' Love'.
There must be something in the sand of sweltering Palm Desert, a California town that has birthed Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, as well as Fatso Jetson. Like Kyuss/QOTSA, Fatso Jetson built a name for themselves by putting their own unique spin on the Sabbath sound, but unlike their counterparts, larger than life singer/guitarist Mario Lalli's true love lies in both jazz (Thelonious Monk, Eric Dolphy) and experimental rock (Frank Zappa, Devo). On paper, this conglomeration of different styles sounds like the perfect recipe for a train wreck, but it somehow all comes together on disc, as evidenced by the trio's 2003 offering, Cruel & Delicious. Issued on old pal Josh Homme's label, Rekords Rekords, the trippy songs perfectly fit the feel of the album's cover (a sun-bleached photo of a long stretch of desert highway), especially such standouts as the saxophone free for all "Drinkin Mode," the melodic "Light Yourself on Fire," the bouncy instrumental "Heavenly Hearse," a barely recognizable cover of the Devo obscurity, "Ton O Luv," and the jazzoid freak-out, "Pig Hat Smokin." Cruel & Delicious is an enjoyable slice of hard rock, well off the beaten path. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
In 2007 the Band released "Live", a live album consisting of both new and old songs on Cobraside records
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