Slapshot

Slapshot is an American hardcore punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 1985, the band released eight studio albums, along with numerous singles and EPs. Despite frequent lineup changes, founding member Jack "Choke" Kelly has remained the band's primary vocalist, leader, and only constant band member. Slapshot was formed in 1985 by Steve Risteen and Mark McKay, formerly of Terminally Ill; Jack "Choke" Kelly, formerly of Negative FX and Last Rights; and Jonathan Anastas, formerly of Decadence and DYS. Diverging from their counterparts in the Boston hardcore scene, Slapshot decided to make the first album a 24-track 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 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 lineup was featured on their sophomore release, Step On It (Taang! Records). Slapshot's first two records were later released together as a compilation album in 1989. During the mid to late 1980s Slapshot began to tour the US and Canada opening for acts such as Bad Brains, Gang Green, Agnostic Front and Circle Jerks. In July 1988, Jamie Sciarappa, former bass player of SS Decontrol, joined the band and Jordan returned to his original slot as a second guitar player. This five-piece released their first 3-song promotional single titled Firewalker in 1989 including "Firewalker" and live recordings of "Chip on My Shoulder" and "Moment of Truth". In May of 1989 Slapshot embarked on "Witness The Hate" tour alongside Full Circle and Scruffy Tearaways. Their third studio album, Sudden Death Overtime, was then released in 1990, receiving positive reviews. Stewart Marson of AllMusic wrote about the album, stating "At a time when hardcore itself, never mind straight-edge, was on the ropes, Sudden Death Overtime proved that some bands were still in the game." The band then toured the U.S. in support of the album, the two legs took place in June and October respectively playing shows in both the US and Canada. In February 1991, the band went on their first European tour which was also in support of the album. As the band prepared to record the next record, Jordan left, returning Slapshot to a single-guitarist band. Jamie moved to Los Angeles and was replaced with Mark and Steve's longtime friend, Chris Lauria. Soon after, the band decided to fire Steve Risteen in 1992 due to what they felt was a lack of guitar skill, hiring Darryl Sheppard. It was a very difficult time for the band that was later documented in the Slapshot documentary "Chip On My Shoulder: The Cautionary Tale of Slapshot". The band was then set for a U.S. tour, but Mark McKay told the band that he couldn't participate. Darryl Sheppard got Barry Hite, the drummer from his other band, to fill in for the tour. When Slapshot returned from the tour, McKay decided to officially quit the band and disconnected himself from the group personally. This was 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 a sample-based industrial/metal/hardcore sound. The lineup only included one original member, Choke, along with a more metal-based backing band including Darryl Sheppard of Slaughter Shack, Barry Hite and Chris Lauria. The album was written in two weeks and recorded in three days, though the band was unsatisfied with the final result. Slapshot then 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 lineup change that resulted in Darryl leaving the band to be replaced by Mike Bowser. They recorded the Unconsciousness LP (We Bite Records) in Chicago with Steve Albini, ex-member of Big Black and producer for Nirvana. During this time, there was a lot of tension among the band, with Chris Lauria not getting along with Barry Hite and Hite not getting along with Jack Kelly. Around the time of their third studio album Unconsciousness being recorded, ex-guitar and bass player Jordan Wood committed suicide. This brought Mark McKay back into the group socially and ultimately back into the band. In August 1994, Slapshot went to Europe for a two-month tour with Ignite and a split 7-inch single record was released to promote it. The tour started at Hultsfred Festival in Sweden on August 11 and ended on October 4 in Germany. Slapshot played 50 shows in 7 countries in 54 days. When they returned from touring, Chris Lauria managed to convince Jack Kelly to get Mark McKay back. With both Blast Furnace and Unconsciousness, the band ventured away from their hardcore sound into a more hard rock territory. Lead singer Choke later commented on the sound change, stating: Well you know after doing hardcore for a few years, everyone was starting to change and do something a little different. You think you're doing what's right, you think you're doing what you're into at the moment. Everyone was listening to Soundgarden and Nirvana and the whole grunge thing was getting pretty big. I was really into industrial bands like Ministry. You know what you like to do is probably not what the band should be doing at that period of time and you sort of get out of your comfort zone and do some things that you're into at the time, but maybe some other people are not that into. With its most solid lineup in years, including the return of their original drummer Mark McKay, Slapshot returned to the studio to record their album, 16 Valve Hate (Lost & Found Records/Taang! Records) released in 1995. The album featured a cover of the Smiths song, "Big Mouth Strikes Again" (1986). Choke later recalled "When we were recording '16 Valve Hate' we kind of suddenly decided to do 'Big Mouth Strikes Again' and throw it together on the spot. A lot of the songs on that record were written in the studio on the day they were recorded. It was just one of those things where everything kind of came together that day." German music review site Visions.de wrote "16 Valve Hate is back to rocking like the old days: 13 songs of straightforward Boston hardcore, devoid of metal ballast and stupid moshing." On August 25, 1995, the band set off on their most ambitious tour to date in support of 16 Valve Hate. With Doug McKinnon (ex-Vandals) filling in for Mark McKay, Slapshot played over 60 shows in 8 countries with only 4 days off. Less than a year later, with the same lineup, the band released "Olde Tyme Hardcore" (Taang! Records, 1996). This album was seen as a return to a more "old-school" hardcore sound and featured a cover of the SSD track "Get It Away". The album was also released in Europe via Lost & Found Records and the relationship between the two went south following the record's release, with Lost & Found Records accusing Slapshot of ripping off the fans while Slapshot accused Lost & Found Records of being crooks. According to McKay, Slapshot has never received any royalties for the sales of 16 Valve Hate by Lost & Found Records. In early 1996, Century Media Records invited Slapshot to take the lead spot on the Crossover 2000 European tour. From the outset, things went poorly, and the problems only escalated as the tour went on. About three weeks into the run, bassist Chris Lauria, frustrated and worn out, decided to leave and return home. His place was quickly taken by Brian Omer, who was already performing with another group on the tour, and he finished out the remaining dates with Slapshot. Two weeks following the tour, the band returned to Europe and once again played a short two-and-a-half-week club tour with John