| Blast | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Santa Cruz, California |
| Genres | Hardcore punk |
| Years active | 1984–1990, 2001 |
| Labels | SST Records, Wishingwell Records |
| Website | http://www.itsinmyblood.com |
| Past members | |
| Clifford Dinsmore Steve Stevenson Dave Cooper Bill Torgerson Mike Neider |
|
Blast (stylized as BL'AST!) was a California hardcore punk and rock band from Santa Cruz. The original lineup consisted of Clifford Dinsmore on vocals, Mike Neider and Steve Stevenson on guitars, Dave Cooper on bass, and Bill Torgerson on drums.
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BLAST! began in 1982-83 and released its first album, The Power of Expression, in 1985. They recorded the album three times before releasing it. Stevenson left the group after the release of The Power of Expression and was briefly replaced by William DuVall, former guitarist of Atlanta, Georgia's Neon Christ;[1] from then on, Neider was the sole guitarist from that point on. The group caught the attention of SST Records, who signed them up for their next release, It's In My Blood in 1987. That same year, a 7-inch was released, including a cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out". The band's final release for SST was Take The Manic Ride, which was released in 1989.
Cooper left in 1989 and was replaced by Ron Isa for the Manic Ride tour and then Ron Isa was replaced by John Schuler for some Blast! shows and post manic ride demos.
Cliff Dinsmore left the group sometime in 1990 and co-founded the band Spaceboy. The rest continued on without him, with Neider taking over vocal duties. Blast officially ceased to exist in December 1990 and changed their name to Blackout (releasing one awesome 7-inch under that name) and then again to Lab (who also put out a 7-inch EP, as well as a hard-to-find four-song CD you could only get along with a Santa Cruz Skateboards order), continuing into the late 90s playing many shows w/ Fu Manchu.
Blast briefly reunited in 2001, playing a handful of shows on the West Coast. They were also planning to record again, but the band fell apart before this materialized.
Neider has a new band in the works, Gusto, featuring former Kyuss/Queens Of The Stone Age member Alfredo Hernandez and former Unida bassist Dave.
In 2004, Dinsmore formed the Santa Cruz doom metal band Gargantula with guitarist Bill Blair, drummer Andrew LeGrande and bassist Josh Barnett. They released one album, Infinitasm.
Dinsmore in the Santa Cruz doom rock outfit Dusted Angel in 2008, w/ Scott Stevens. They released their debut self titled 7" in October 2009. They followed that up with their full-length cd titled "Earth Sick Mind" on November 17, 2010.
plus an EP – "School's Out", a cover of the Alice Cooper classic, backed with "Your Eyes" and a cover of "The Slave" by The Germs.