Insurgent Country Denton, Texas; 1992- It seems appropriate that a band which began in the back room of a liquor store and plays intense rock/country/punk focused on disturbing themes like boozing, wrenching heartache, and brutal death should be named for an object well chewed by a dog. Slobberbone was started in 1992 in Denton, Texas, by a group of friends bonded by a fondness for music and drinking. All had dabbled in a succession of musical trends, but it was the cowpunk and roots rock of the 1980s that hooked them. Led by lead singer and songwriter Brent Best, the band played around the North Texas area for a number of years before cutting the self released Crow Pot Pie in 1995. Shortly thereafter, charter members, Lee Pearson and Ed Alderson, split just as Slobberbone was about to sign a deal with Doolittle Records out of Austin. With anew bassist (Brian Lane), lead guitarist (Michael Hill), and fiddler (Scott Danbom), the group did a revamped version of Crow Pot Pie. This recording plus a showcase at SXS W 1996 with the Hangdogs and Whiskeytown gained them second looks from the alt. country community including a short profile in No Depression. And while often labeled country roots rock, Slobberbone made it clear that the emphasis should be on ROCK. Thematically, the band covers familiar country ground especially drinking ("Whiskey Glass Eye"; "Sober Song"; "Stumblin"' and numerous other alcohol related songs), and there are occasional twangy undertones (fiddle, guitar), but for the most part, Slobberbone cranks it up into high gear and never looks back. This is particularly true of Barrel Chested which, in the credits, tells the listener, "Remember: It's Rock." The recording (with Lloyd Maines and Susan Voelz) has a couple of countryish ballads ("Little Drunk Fists"; "One Rung") and a bit of bluegrass ("Engine Joe"), but the majority is flat out nose bleeding, ear ringing "twang-thrash" ("Haze of Drink"; "I'll Be Damned"; "Lame"). Slobberbone got to express their traditional countryside with a cover of "Dark as a Dungeon" on 1997's Straight Outta Boone County. Barrel Chested sold well especially in The Netherlands, and the band toured there in late 1998. A special EP, Your Excuse, with "Dark As a Dungeon," acoustic versions of "Little Drunk Fists" and "Barrel Chested" plus the previously unreleased instrumental "Boy Howdy" was issued by the Dutch label Sonic Rendezvous to coincide with the tour. --David Goodman, author of Modern Twang: An Alternative Country Music Guide and Directory