Slab! (sometimes known as SLAB!) are a British industrial music/alternative rock band initially active between the mid-1980s and early 1990s. They reformed in 2009. The band's first release was the "Mars on Ice" 12-inch single in 1986 on Dave Kitson's Ink Records (an offshoot of his Red Flame label). They followed this with "Parallax Avenue" in 1987 and in May that year their debut mini-LP Music From The Iron Lung was issued. "Smoke Rings" gave them their highest charting single, reaching number 31 on the indie chart in July 1987, and towards the end of the year the band's first long-playing album, Descension was issued. Second full-length LP album Sanity Allergy was issued in 1988. The band split up in 1991, with a 'best of' compilation, Ship of Fools, released the same year. Vocalist Stephen Dray and guitarist Paul Jarvis reformed the band in 2009 and began working on new material and finishing old unreleased tracks.
Links to Peel[]
In his Observer article, published on 10th August 1986, Peel mentioned discovering Slab! through demo tapes that he was listening to whilst driving from Ostend (Belgium) to Bremen (Germany):
"A cassette by the London-based Slab! was one of about 200 I auditioned on a drive from Ostend to Bremen two months ago. Of the handful that merited a replay, it was the only one that was at all disconcerting - so much so that it has remained in the car ever since." [1]
In the same article, he also mentioned seeing the band perform at the A3 club in Kings Cross in that year. So impressed with them, that he invited the group three times to do sessions for his show, before they disbanded in the 90's.
Sessions[]
Slab! - John Peel Session -1 12th August 1986
1. Recorded: 1986-08-12. Broadcast: 22 September 1986. Repeated: 08 October 1986, 23 December 1986
- Mars On Ice / Painting The Forth Bridge / Dust / The Animals Are All Eating People Pie
2. Recorded: 1987-02-01. Broadcast: 16 February 1987. Repeated: 03 March 1987, 14 April 1987, 30 December 1987
- Undriven Snow / Mining Town In Lotusland / Blood Flood / Parallax Avenue
3. Recorded: 1988-02-21. Broadcast: 07 March 1988. Repeated: 12 April 1988
- Big Sleeper / Last Detail / Killer For A Country / Bride Of Sloth
Other Shows Played[]
- 1986
- 30 September 1986: Mars On Ice (12") Ink
- 09 October 1986 (BFBS): 'Mars On Ice (12")' (Ink) (JP: 'Lawrence, this week's guest producer, said that in the course of that, he noticed a Led Zeppelin influence. He is at this very moment being pushed through a mincer.')
- 14 October 1986: Mars on Ice (12") Ink
- 12 November 1986: Mars On Ice (12") Ink
- 1987
Slab! - A.Smoke Rings
- 11 February 1987: Parallax Avenue (12") Ink
- 20 May 1987: Flirt (LP - Music From The Iron Lung) Ink
- 29 May 1987 (BFBS): 'Painting The Forth Bridge (12"-Music From The Iron Lung)' (Ink)
- 17 June 1987: Smoke Rings (7") Ink
- 24 June 1987: 'Smoke Rings (7 inch)' (Ink)
- 01 July 1987: Smoke Rings (12") Ink
- 29 July 1987: Smoke Rings (single) Ink
- 08 December 1987: Tunnel Of Love (LP - Descension) Ink
- 27 December 1987 (BFBS): Gutter Busting (LP - Descension) Ink
- 1988
- 04 January 1988: Gutter Busting (album - Descension) Ink
- 10 January 1988 (BFBS): Dolores (album - Descension) Ink
- 12 January 1988: The Animals (album - Descension) Ink
- 25 January 1988: Gutter Busting (LP - Descension) Ink
- 06 February 1988 (Radio Bremen): Flirt (album - Descension) Ink
- 09 April 1988 (Radio Bremen): Dolores (album - Descension) Ink
- 06 June 1988: People Pie (12") Ink
- 11 June 1988 (BFBS): People Pie (single) Ink
- 14 June 1988: People Pie (7") Ink
- 22 June 1988: People Pie (12") Ink
- 31 August 1988: People Pie (12") Ink