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SLAPSHOT
by Mike Gitter
"There's been such a void for a long impression, Slapshot are among
time that there's got to be some new hardcore's most visual. According to
bands," says Mark. "Apparently a Jon, "As far as where I'm coming
lot of kids want more than they've from and the bands that I've always
seen in the past few years and are liked, it's always been the bands that
finally going for it and are really put deliver the whole package. Both the
ting their hearts into what they're do- music and the show were threaten-
ing."
ing enough to stand by themselves."
Definitely," says Anastas, "and
with Slapshot, there's always some-
one moving around."
Boston's Slapshot is hard. The
stage is quiet as guitarist Steve Ris
teen churns out a subtle cascade of
chunks, ominously building in speed
and intensity. Bassist Jon Anastas
(ex-DYS) joins in. His plucks are According to Choke, "It's a shame
plodding at first but as his smile that many kids came in during that
turns to a mask of rage the razor void which unfortunately gave them
sharp introduction erupts into a nothing to listen to but pure shit.
literal explosion of sound and They formed their ideas and tastes
musical fury heralding the emer- while listening to total idiots. Maybe
gence of lead vocalist Choke. if they had heard bands like Black
Clutching a sawed-off hockeystick in Flag or SSD a long time ago, I think
one hand and a microphone in the things would be different. There
other, Choke (ex-Negative FX and haven't been any good bands in
Last Rights) is nothing short of one quite a whileand I think that's a
of the most aggressive frontmen to reason so many mediocre bands
ever hit a Bean-town stage, Panther became so popular."
like, he paces back and forth, keep- "With the older bands," explains
ing the audience at stick length. For Jon, "they went one of two ways.
them the choice is simple; stand They either stayed with the same
back or be struck with its crushing atonal sound and got to be pretty in
sincere or they totally moved out of
Slaphot offers no compromise. hardcore as we did in DYS. I think
Drummer Mark MacKaye kicks in Slapshot, we've got a lot of
things into overdrive and Choke originality."
blow.
begins to bellow. Each word, scream "One thing that's important to
and idea is from the heart with remember," adds Choke, "is that
members on hand from hardcore's we aren't trying to bring back the
earliest days, determined to put feeling of '81 or '82. That time is
Boston, home of such greats as gone and I certainly have no illu-
SSD, DYS and Jerry's Kids back on sions of another Boston crew. The
the map.
same people just aren't there. Still,
there are new kids and they feel a
sense of pride in their city."
Much like many of hardcore's
earliest, Slapshot are known for their
ability to make each performance a
show. Whether it be Choke's fren-
zied lunging about the stage, Jon's
"Iron Maiden" trademark moves or
Steve's hyperactive Angus Young
"They'll either get the message or
get hit in the head," mocks Choke.
"You know," says Mark, "In all
the shows we've ever played, I've
never hit anyone."
Slapshot also tends to be a lot
more uncompromising in their
outlook than the bulk of bands.
Musically and lyrically there is no
compromise. They have a message
and literally ram it down one's throat.
"Songs like 'In Your Face' or 'Chip
on My Shoulder' are pretty much our
standpoint," says Choke, "People
take offense when they find out
you're straight edge and they tell
you you've got a problem. I don't
think so, in fact it's them who have
the problem."
In each member's individuality,
Slapshot emerges as a more power-
ful unit. "The thing that makes it
work so well is that we aren't all ex-
actly alike," muses Jon. "Just look
at the four of us, we're all different
people. Still, there are enough
similarities in terms of our respec-
tive ideas, beliefs and goals for Slap-
shot to work as a cohesive unit."
As evident on their recently
released "Back on the Map" mini-
Lp (Taang), Slapshot aren't wearing
out any tried and true formulas. In
stead they forge ahead with a uni-
que sound that freely merges the
distinct and diverse tastes of the four
individuals in the band. Ranging
from Choke's affinity for Oi-styled
singalongs to Mark's "77 rooted
tastes to Steve and Jon's preference Choke presses up against an unruly crowd with hockey stick in hand.
toward a hard edged, AC/DC in-
fluenced rock, Slapshot is far from
one-dimensional. Where songs such
as "Chip On My Shoulder" rage
along at an exhilarating pace, others
like" Killing Frost" possess a sense
of grandeur and sheer, unrelenting
power. "If we all listened to one kind
of music," says Anastas, "I think our
music would be very boring."
"That's what makes a lot of bands
so single-faceted," adds Choke.
"Too much of the time you'll have
four very young people on stage
whose sole interest is to play thrash.
That certainly isn't us. We don't
force ourselves to be diversified, we
happen to be four very diverse in-
dividuals. If I had to describe our-
sound, I'd say it was a Boston
sound. Each city has its own unique
sound. You can hear an LA band or
a New York band and hear a certain
sound. We're a Boston band and
possess that sound."
Culminating many years of ex-
periences in Boston bands, the
members of Slapshot never attempt
to recapture their "glory days" or
relive the past. They do however see
themselves as possessing much of
the same feeling and idealism that
made DC and Boston hardcore so
vitally immediate in its heyday.
Finally, Slapshot makes a stand-
ing offer to bands throughout the
country to games of Boston-styled
street hockey. "OK," jokes Anastas,
"you could call us a jock band."
in
the
CROWD
SLAP
SHOT