Cheater Slicks

Masters of crude, sludgy, and unrelenting garage punk, the Cheater Slicks have been following their purposefully unrefined vision since the late 1980s, churning out inspired noise and lyrical bad vibes with a consistency that few other bands could match. Flashes of blues, psychedelia, '60s garage rock, and lo-fi punk swim through their swampy attack as they explore the boundaries of their no-frills two-guitar-and-a-drum-kit approach, which has won them a loyal cult following that includes avowed fans Mudhoney, the Dirtbombs, and the New Bomb Turks. The band first started making an impact outside the noise-punk underground with 1995's Don't Like You (produced by Jon Spencer), and while they became less productive after 2002's Yer Last Record, they kept making music their own way, and returned to form with a pair of releases that found them exploring new territory -- 2021's Piano Tunnels, recorded with vocalist Bill Gage, and 2023's Ill-Fated Cusses, which added keyboards and electronics to their mix. The Cheater Slicks were formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1987 by brothers Tom Shannon (guitar and lead vocals) and Dave Shannon (guitar). Eager to play raw, uncompromised garage punk, the Shannons recruited Dana Hatch to play drums and brought aboard bassist Merle Allin, best known for his work with his late brother, G.G. Allin. They began making themselves known on the local underground music scene, and the Cambridge-based label Gawdawful Records stepped up to release their debut album, 1989's On Your Knees. Not long after it came out, Allin left the group, and several bassists passed through the lineup, including Allan "Alpo" Paulinho (formerly of the Real Kids) and Dina Pearlman, before they decided they were better off as a bass-less trio. They issued a fistful of singles for various labels before the Australian Dog Meat label released Destination Lonely in 1991. In 1993, the respected indie punk label In the Red Recordings signed the Cheater Slicks, releasing their 1993 album Whiskey, which kicked off one of the band's most stable associations with a label. Jon Spencer, a fan and friend of the group, signed on to produce their fourth album, Don't Like You, which also featured Spencer on lead vocals on "Sensitive Side." He also brought the band on the road as his opening act for his own band's tour behind 1996's Now I Got Worry. In 1996, the Cheater Slicks collectively left Boston and relocated to Columbus, Ohio, where they booked time at the local Diamond Mine Studios and cut an expansive double album, 1997's Forgive Thee, which included guest appearances from Mick Collins of the Dirtbombs. 1998's Skidmarks: A Collection of Oddities, Rarities, and Vintage Spew was a compilation that featured the out-of-print On Your Knees album as well as unreleased tapes from Allan "Alpo" Paulinho's time with the band. Refried Dreams followed in 1999; it was their last release for In the Red for quite some time. Secret Keeper Records issued their next long-player, 2002's Yer Last Record, and Dead Canary, a Columbus-based label, did the honors of releasing 2007's Walk Into the Sea. After 2009's Bats in the Dead Trees, a limited-edition LP of improvisational music, the Cheater Slicks would primarily focus on live releases such as 2011's Gutteral (Live Vol. 1 2010), and brought out an archival release, Our Food Is Chaos: The Allen Paulino Session, that gathered unreleased material from Allan "Alpo" Paulinho's short tenure with the group. 2021's Piano Tunnels, issued by In the Red, was the fruit of a collaboration between the Cheater Slicks and Bill Gage, the lead singer with the Boston-based group BILL and one of the few artists with Down Syndrome to front a rock band. (According to In the Red, profits from the release benefit the Arts Resources programs of the National Association for Down Syndrome.) Bill's brother John Gage played bass on the Piano Tunnels sessions, and the addition of some bottom end seemingly agreed with the Cheater Slicks. For 2023's Ill-Fated Cusses, James Arthur, a former member of the Necessary Evils and Fireworks, was invited to play bass in the studio, and Will Foster, who engineered the recordings, added keyboards and electronics to the songs. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi