SNFU

Infobox musical artist
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Img_capt = SNFU at Starlite Room, Edmonton
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Died =
Origin = Edmonton, Alberta
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Genre = Punk rock
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Years_active = 1981 – 1989
1991 – 2005
2007 – present
Label = Rake Records, Alternative Tentacles, Epitaph Records, Cargo Music, BYO Records
Associated_acts = Slaveco
Wheat Chiefs

URL =
Current_members = Ken Chinn
Ken Flemming
Just Denis
Chad Mareels
Past_members = See List of SNFU band members

SNFU is a Canadian punk rock band which started in 1981, disbanded between 1989 and 1991 before reforming, broke up in 2005, and again reassembled in 2007.

The band originally hailed from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, later relocating to Vancouver. Over twenty five years, their career saw them move through various sub-genres of punk rock, including hardcore punk in the early '80s, skate punk in the mid-late '80s, and melodic hardcore in the '90s. The band was known initially for its sardonic lyrical and visual aesthetics, mostly the product of lead singer Ken Chinn, (aka Mr. Chi Pig) and aggressive guitar work by twin brothers Marc "Muc" and Brent "Bunnt" Belke. Flipside fanzine voted them "Best Live Band" in 1987, beating the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fugazi.

While originally an acronym for "Society's No Fucking Use", the meaning of those four letters changed over the years, with the band eventually becoming ambiguous on assigning them a specific reference. The band had an unusual quirk of releasing albums with seven words in the title.

Former guitarist Marc Belke is adamant that the band is no more, his website and MySpace page for the band have left no room for new SNFU work [http://www.snfu.com snfu.com ] ] . However, Chinn is continuing the band - in 2007, after saying in interviews that "SNFU dies when [he dies] ", he began to lead an all-new SNFU lineup, briefly called "asSnfu" before reclaiming the original moniker.

History

The '80s - band forms, first four LPs

Singer Chinn and the Belke brothers initially met through the skateboarding subculture in the early '80s [www.theskinnymag.info/view_article.php?article_id=208] . Their shared interest in the burgeoning punk rock movement led them to agree to form a band. The first of many SNFU rhythm sections featured Warren Bidlock and Evan C. Jones, playing bass and drums respectively.

After a debut EP, "Victims of the Womanizer," their first, very influential album was "...And No One Else Wanted To Play", which was recorded in late 1984 and eventually picked up by the Californian label BYO Records. Jimmy Schmidtz had replaced Bidlock by this point.

Following the success of their debut, SNFU recorded two more studio LPs in the '80s. Both of these featured different rhythm sections. The first was "If You Swear, You'll Catch No Fish", recorded in 1986 and with Dave Bacon on bass and Jon Card playing drums. Card is notable for having worked with several popular Canadian punk rock bands, including Personality Crisis, the Subhumans, D.O.A., and, as a guest musician, NoMeansNo. The second was "Better Than A Stick In The Eye", with Curtis Creager and Ted Simm in the band. This album was recorded in 1988 and was distributed by Cargo Music, a larger label than the band had previously dealt with. In 1989, Simm departed and Card briefly returned to replace him, but the band disbanded in late 1989 for reasons mostly unstated publicly. Shortly after the breakup, the band released "The Last Of The Big Time Suspenders", a CD consisting of live material, demos, and studio outtakes.

The '90s - reformation through Brent Belke's departure

During the 90's, Chi fronted a Vancouver punk outfit that called themselves "The Wongs". They released an EP under this name. The Belke brothers also worked on a melodic rock side project called the Wheat Chiefs.

In 1991, SNFU resurfaced. In tow they had yet another new rhythm section (with bassist Ken Flemming, whose tenure was brief, and drummer Dave Rees,) stronger melodic presence and, after a small-run EP on the Hom Wreckards imprint, "Beautiful, Unlike You and I", a record deal with Epitaph Records.

Rob Johnson, aka "the Buck" or "Starbuck," who at the time was the bass player for Wheat Chiefs, soon replaced Flemming. This lineup had the distinction of being the only SNFU lineup to appear on multiple proper studio albums. They released "Something Green And Leafy This Way Comes" (1993,) "The One Voted Most Likely To Succeed" (1995,) and "FYULABA" (aka "Fuck You Up Like A Bad Accident," 1996,) all on Epitaph. 1998 saw the release of "Let's Get It Right the First Time", a live album on their own label, Rake Records, featuring live versions of popular songs from their past, mostly material from the Epitaph years and their debut LP.

The final release for the classic '90s lineup was a five-song EP called "the Ping Pong EP", which was released in 2000 on the Alternative Tentacles label.

At the end of the decade, the band announced the departure of both Rees and Brent Belke, the latter of whom was leaving to pursue a career in filmmaking in California. The band decided to remain a four-piece, and hired drummer Sean Stubbs to replace Rees.

2000-2005

The band toured sporadically through the 2000s. Stubbs was soon replaced by a string of new drummers, including Chris Thompson and Drummer Shane Smith of Neurosonic, The Real Mckenzies and Jackalope. After 10 years of touring and playing bass, Rob Johnson AKA Freshbread (aka starbuck) left the band to pursue new projects including his solo No Skool rap album under the name Freshbread called Big Boss Battle. His new rock band is called Air Raid Siren. Rob was replaced by bassist Matt Warhurst. Trevor Macgregor of Treble Charger lended his services on drums as the band recorded their final album, "In The Meantime And In Between Time," which was released on Rake in 2004, which many fans acredit as some of their finest work. Shane Smith drummed on the last tours which were based in Canada.

At the end of the summer of 2005, after 23 years of existence, 9 full-length albums (plus one EP) and many worldwide tours, SNFU members announced that they had decided to disband [ [http://www.snfu.com/home.php :: SNFU.com - Home] ] .

2007 - new lineup

Chi Pig, Warhurst, Smith and Jay R Black (OCEAN3) started a group called SLAVECO., went on to do several tours and after decided to take a break to pursue other projects.

July 20, 2007 saw a band taking to the stage as SNFU once more. Mr. Chi Pig on vocals, Ken Flemming (from SNFU 1991) on guitar, Bryan McCallum (Karen Foster) playing bass, Chad Mareels (Nasty On) on drums. [ [http://www.thecobalt.net/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=5795&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15 Van Punk Board • Information ] ] On August 25 Mr. Chi Pig, accompanied by a band he referred to as "asSNFU," traveled to small British Columbian town Grand Forks to play one show supported by progressive Canadian instrumental punk band Removal.

The band played a show on January 19th 2008 at The Red Room (with Left Spine Down) in Vancouver with the same line up as the Cobalt Shows in 2007. They also played a series of 4 shows in Alberta in May 2008 again with Left Spine Down [ [http://www.syntheticentertainment.com syntheticentertainment.com ] ] . Future shows found McCallum replaced by a bassist calling himself Just Denis.

Prior to a homecoming show in Edmonton Alberta, Chi Pig was featured in local alternative paper Vue Weekly in an article by Bryan Birtles where he claimed that "As far as I’m concerned it’s SNFU. The band has changed all throughout the years, and this is just another change. That’s exactly how I see it ... Those songs are my life. I’ll fucking play them ‘til I die.” [ [http://vueweekly.com/article.php?id=8447 Vue Weekly : Edmonton's 100% Independent Weekly : SNFU ] ] The Belke brothers' camp renounces the new lineup, insisting that SNFU remains broken up and that the new lineup is NOT a proper SNFU incarnation. The band's original official MySpace page claims that "Mr. Chi Pig is playing shows as 'AsSnfu' - which are sometimes 'accidentally' advertised as SNFU shows. However, Chi's band features no other original members.". [ [http://www.myspace.com/snfu MySpace.com - SNFU - Vancouver, CA - Punk - www.myspace.com/snfu ] ] A new band MySpace page has since arisen claiming to be "THE ONE AND ONLY OFFICIAL SNFU MYSPACE!", [http://www.myspace.com/snfuband MySpace.com - SNFU (Ontario + Quebec Tour September 2008) - Vancouver, CA - Punk / Melodramatic Popular Song / Punk - www.myspace.com/snfuband ] ] and features, among other things, live footage of the new lineup performing '80s-era SNFU material.

Most recently, the group has announced plans to tour Canada in fall '08 and referenced plans for the production of a new album after that.

Currently, there is a documentary on Mr. Chi Pig being produced, tentatively titled "Open Your Mouth And Say Chi Pig".

Critical analysis

Although they occasionally dabble in social commentary, SNFU are lyrically known for their use of gross-out humor ("My Mold Collection," "The Cannibal Cafe,") violence ("Bodies In The Wall," "The Great Mind Eraser,") and tabloid-esque pop culture commentary and satire ("Bobbitt," "Quentin Tarantino Can't Act!", "Better Homes And Gardens.") Chinn's vocal delivery involves an informed melodic instinct, favoring fifths, octave leaps and speak/sing dynamics.

The Belke brothers' guitar work is dense and active, closer to traditional hard rock than punk in execution, despite decidedly punk riffs. Although they've gone through many bassists and drummers, SNFU have maintained a high calibre of musicianship, making them more musically accomplished than most punk rock bands.

SNFU is also notable for having played on the first wave of several musical movements within the punk rock scene. Hardcore punk became omnipresent among punk bands shortly after SNFU began playing it in 1982. Skateboarding was also quickly adopted by punk rockers, particularly in North America, around the time that SNFU incorporated skating influence into their music. In the early '90s, a breed of punk rock best described as melodic hardcore, which included influence from pop punk and grunge musics, became very popular when bands such as Green Day, The Offspring and NOFX began playing it. Although SNFU's popularity never touched these contemporaries, they can accurately claim to have adopted the musical style at the same time.

Band members

Current members

*Ken Chinn, aka Mr Chi Pig - vocals (1981-1989, 1991-2005, 2007-present)
*Ken Flemming - bass (1991), guitar (2007-present)
*Just Denis - bass (2008-present)
*Chad Mareels - drums (2007-present)

Former members

Guitar
*Marc Belke, aka Muc - 1981-1989, 1991-2005
*Brent Belke, aka Bunnt - 1981-1989, 1991-1999Bass
*Warren Bidlock - 1981-1983
*Jimmy Schmitz - 1983-1985
*Dave Bacon - 1985-1986
*Curtis Creager - 1987-1989
*Rob Johnson, aka Starbuck - 1991-2002
*Matt Warhurst - 2002-2005
*Bryan McCallum - 2007-2008Drums
*Evan C. Jones - 1981-1984
*Jon Card - 1984-1986, 1989
*Ted Simm - 1986-1988
*Dave Rees - 1991-1999
*Sean Stubbs - 1999-2001
*Chris Thompson - 2001-2002
*Shane Smith - 2002-2004, 2005
*Trevor Macgregor - 2004-2005

Discography

* "Victims of the Womanizer 7" (1984)
* "...And No One Else Wanted to Play" (1985)
* "If You Swear, You'll Catch No Fish" (1986)
* "She's Not On The Menu 7" (bootleg) (1987)
* "Better Than A Stick In The Eye" (1988)
* "Real Men Don't Watch Quincy 7" (bootleg) (1990)
* "The Last Of The Big Time Suspenders" (1991)
* "Beautiful, Unlike You And I 7" (1991)
* "Something Green And Leafy This Way Comes" (1993)
* "The One Voted Most Likely To Succeed" (1995)
* "FYULABA" ("few-LAH-bah") (Fuck You Up Like a Bad Accident) (1996)
* "Let's Get It Right the First Time" (1998)
* "The Ping Pong EP" (2000)
* "In the Meantime and In Between Time" (2004)

References

External links

* [http://www.snfu.com Official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/snfuband Official MySpace]
* [http://forums.angryamerica.com/ SNFU fansite]