Slapshot (band)
Encyclopedia
History
Slapshot was formed in 1985 by Steve Risteen (currently playing for the Boston hardcore/punk band Refuse Resist) and Mark McKay, formerly of Terminally Ill; Jack "Choke" Kelly, formerly of Negative FXNegative FX
Negative FX was a hardcore straight edge band from Boston formed in 1981. Though the band lasted only a short time, playing only a total of five shows , the band was well-known for their involvement in the local straight edge scene of the early '80s...
and Last Rights; and Jonathan Anastas
Jonathan Anastas
Jonathan Anastas is a Los Angeles-based marketing & advertising executive, and a musician who cofounded a number of influential Boston hardcore punk bands in the 1980s.-Punk rock musician:...
, formerly of Decadence and DYS
DYS (band)
DYS is an American straight edge hardcore band from Boston, Massachusetts who were part of the notorious "Boston Crew" in the 1980s, along with contemporaries such as SSD and Negative FX...
. Due to the reputations of its members, the band had a relatively high profile even before its debut; the zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
writer Mike Gitter (who was also an A&R executive) wrote "Slapshot is a great live act", before they had ever played in public.
Diverging from their counterparts in the Boston hardcore
Boston hardcore
Boston hardcore is the hardcore punk scene of Boston, Massachusetts. Boston hardcore is the hardcore punk scene of Boston, Massachusetts. Boston hardcore is the hardcore punk scene of Boston, Massachusetts. (Not to be confused with Boston metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore; itself an...
scene, Slapshot decided to make the first album a 24 track
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
recording as opposed to the usual 8 or 16-track hardcore album. To reduce costs, they recorded at night and completed the album in four sessions. Back On The Map was released by Taang! Records
Taang! Records
Taang! Records is an American independent record label founded by Curtis Casella in Boston, Massachusetts which is currently based in San Diego...
in 1986.
The band's lineup underwent a number of changes in its first few years, although its sound remained consistent. Jordan Wood, formerly of S.T.P. and later of Deathwish, joined as an additional guitarist, but took over bass guitar when Anastas left the band to continue his education. This line up was featured on their sophomore release, Step On It (Taang! Records). In July 1988, Jamie Sciarappa, former bass player of SS Decontrol
SSD (band)
SSD were a straight edge hardcore band from Boston. They released two records as SS Decontrol and then formally changed their name to SSD. As SSD they released two more records, these with a very heavy metal influenced sound...
, joined the band and Jordan returned to his original slot as a second guitar player. This 5 piece line up recorded the 3rd record, Sudden Death Overtime (Taang! Records).
As the band got ready to record the next record there was a significant line-up change. Jordan left the band returning Slapshot to a single guitar band and Jamie was replaced with Mark & Steve’s long time friend Chris Lauria. Soon after, the band decided to fire Steve Risteen due to what they felt was a lack of guitar skill. It was a very difficult time for the band that is well documented in the Slapshot documentary "Chip On My Shoulder: The Cautionary Tale of Slapshot". Mark McKay eventually also quit (and disconnected himself from the group personally as well) due to multiple issues including a lack of interest in the new material the band was writing.
Their 1993 album Blast Furnace (We Bite Records) was a move into sample-based industrial/metal/hardcore and only included one original member, Choke, along with a more metal-based backing band including Darryl Sheppard of Slaughter Shack, Barry Hite & Chris Lauria. Slapshot toured Europe that spring, and on the second date of the tour, they recorded a live album in Berlin called Live At SO36 (We Bite Records).
The following year there was another line-up change that resulted in Darryl leaving the band to be replaced by Mike Bowser. They recorded the Unconsciousness LP (We Bite Records) in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
with Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
, ex-member of Big Black
Big Black
Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun...
and producer for Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
.
In August 1994 Slapshot went off to Europe for a two month tour with Ignite and a split 7" single record was released to promote it. The tour kicked off at the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden on August 11 and ended on October 4 in Germany. Slapshot played 50 shows in 7 countries in 54 days.
Around the time Unconsciousness was being recorded tragedy fell upon the band. Ex-guitar & bass player Jordan Wood tragically ended his life in when he committed suicide. It was this moment that brought Mark McKay back into the group socially and ultimately back into the band.
With its most solid line-up in years Slapshot returned to the studio to record their heaviest album to date, "16 Valve Hate" (Lost & Found Records/Taang! Records) released in 1995. Less than a year later – with the same line-up – the band released "Olde Tyme Hardcore" (Taang! Records, 1996). This was a return to hardcore the way that the band thought it sound be and featured a cover of the classic SSD track "Get It Away"
In July 1997, Slapshot played what was to be their last concert in the United States for five years, in Plymouth, Massachusetts. They toured Europe in 1999, including a stop at the Graspop Metal Meeting
Graspop Metal Meeting
Graspop Metal Meeting is an annual metal festival in Dessel, Belgium that has taken place each year since 1996. Despite the small size of the festival grounds the festival draws a large number of international spectators, with a total of 142,000 visitors in the course of the 2011 edition...
in Belgium. In December 1999, a Slapshot tribute album called Boston Drops The Gloves - A Tribute To Slapshot was released by Flat Records (the label owned by Ken Casey
Ken Casey
Ken Casey is the bass guitarist and a vocalist of the Boston Celtic punk group Dropkick Murphys. Casey was one of the original members, starting it in 1996 with Rick Barton and Mike McColgan. He is the only original member of the Dropkick Murphys left in the band, though drummer Matt Kelly joined...
of the Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys are an Irish-American punk rock band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The band was initially signed to independent punk record label Hellcat Records, releasing five albums for the label, and making a name for themselves locally through constant playing and yearly St....
) and San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
-based TKO Records. The album included covers by 22 Boston bands.
In 2001, Slapshot issued a new album entitled Greatest Hits, Slashes and Crosschecks (King Fisher/Century Media) featuring re-recorded & re-mastered versions of classic Slapshot songs, which featured the only recordings of the band with David Link on bass and was the last recorded material with Mike Bowser on guitar.
In 2002 Slapshot played a 15 minute surprise set at The Hideaway in Cambridge, MA as part of a bill along side Poison Idea, Kill Your Idols, Thumbs Up! and more. The overall reaction to the short set resulted in a full show being booked at The Hideaway for October 13, 2002. Unfortunately the club was forced to close just days before the show was scheduled to happen. On October 26, 2002 Slapshot was finally able to play a full set in the US for the first time in over 5 years. The show was the "6th annual Back to School Jam" in Framingham, MA and also featured Blood for Blood, Converge, Reach The Sky, Panic, No Warning, Some Kind of Hate and a very rare set by Stars & Stripes.
Around this time Mike Bowser decided to move to New York for a new job and after a guitar search that ended with Ed Lalli (currently singing for The Welch Boys) they returned to the studio for 2003's Digital Warfare (I Scream Records) followed by 2005's Tear It Down (Thorp Records), along with several more European tours.
In 2006, Slapshot released a statement on their website announcing that the band was defunct. However, on June 30, 2007, they played at the Significant Fest 2007 in Clearwater, Florida. Also on the bill were Killing Time
Killing Time (band)
Killing Time is an influential New York Hardcore band. From their beginnings in 1988, under the name Raw Deal, they went on to record two full-length albums and several EPs, singles, and compilation tracks. The band went through three hiatus before formally disbanding in 1998. However, the band...
, 108
108 (band)
108 is an American hardcore band founded in 1991. Their music reflected the Hare Krishna faith of its members. Their name comes from the number of beads on the Japa mala, or mantra counting beads.- History :...
and Uppercut. In July 2008, they played a couple of dates in Europe, with a stop at the With Full Force festival in Leipzig, Germany. These were to be the last shows featuring Ed Lalli on guitar.
Slapshot played a show at Anchors Up in Haverhill, Massachusetts on November 8, 2008 with Ten Yard Fight
Ten Yard Fight
Ten Yard Fight was a straight edge, football-based band formed in 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with In My Eyes and Floorpunch, they spearheaded the youth crew revival in 1997. Ten Yard Fight's "official" last show was in Boston on October 17, which would become the first National Edge Day...
, Step Forward, and Word For Word. This show was a warm up for the 2008 Winter Tour which brought the return of long time guitarist Mike Bowser and reformed the classic Olde Tyme Hardcore/16 Vale Hate line-up.
Upon returning from the tour Slapshot played as part of the "2008 Hometown Throwdown" in Boston on December 28 at the Middle East
The Middle East (nightclub)
The Middle East is a live music venue, bar and restaurant in the Central Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Having featured a huge variety of musicians since 1987, the establishment, with its upstairs and downstairs rooms, "is the nexus of metro Boston's rock-club scene for local and touring...
with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. Since the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer Ben Carr have remained constant members...
. One highlight of the show was Choke joining the Bosstones on stage during their cover of the Slapshot song "What’s at Stake".
April 24, 2009 finally brought the world premiere of the long awaited Slapshot documentary film "Chip On My Shoulder: The Cautionary Tale of Slapshot". It premiered at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA to a sold out audience as part of the Boston Independent Film Festival. Following its premiere the film was screened as part of a hardcore festival in Toronto Canada which also featured performances by Negative Approach and Supertouch. The film was also screened at the Salt Lake City Film Festival in August 2009. The film was directed and produced by Ian McFarland (Blood for Blood
Blood for Blood
Blood for Blood is a hardcore band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed by Shane Flannery in 1994, motivated by the hardcore scene in Boston and New York City at the time. In 1997 they were signed to Victory Records...
) and Anthony "Wrench" Moreschi (Ten Yard Fight
Ten Yard Fight
Ten Yard Fight was a straight edge, football-based band formed in 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with In My Eyes and Floorpunch, they spearheaded the youth crew revival in 1997. Ten Yard Fight's "official" last show was in Boston on October 17, which would become the first National Edge Day...
) of Killswitch Productions and will be released on DVD by Taang! Records eventually (we hope).
After another line-up change (including Chris Lauria moving from bass to guitar) Slapshot headed back to Europe for 10 shows in August 2009 with the support of Frigate which features Chris Lauria of Slapshot, Linda Bean of Stars & Stripes and John Bean formerly of Bitter. The tour, dubbed the '2009 Replacements Tour', went well but late 2009 still brought about another line up change.
The current line up of Slapshot includes founding member Jack 'Choke' Kelly, long time member Chris Laura (back on bass guitar), John Bean on drums and Craig Silverman (formerly of 'Only Living Witness' & currently of 'The Enemy Within' featuring Mike Mahoney formerly of Blood for Blood and the touring guitar player for Blood for Blood) on guitar. The band spent the first 1/2 of 2010 working on new material and hopes to have some new songs recorded before the end of the year. This line-up played the "Gallery East" reunion show in August 2010 after several warm-up shows in Europe.
Discography
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