Choke (band)

Choke
Origin	Edmonton
Genres	Punk
Years active	1994–2007
Labels	Smallman Records
Members
Clay Shea Jack Jaggard Shawn Moncrieff Stefan Levasseur

Choke was a Canadian Punk rock band.

History

With original members Jack Jaggard, Clay Shea, Shawn Moncrieff and Stefan Levasseur, Choke has toured non-stop in Canada and the USA^{[citation needed]}.

Choke released their first two albums independently, Lotion in 1995 and Give'er in 1996, which was later released through Smallman Records who signed the band in 1997. Choke released Needless To Say the following year, an album that was chosen by Exclaim magazine as one of the top ten punk albums of the year^{[citation needed]}. 1999 saw the release of Foreword, which charted on both the CMJ (US) and Earshot (Can) radio charts^{[citation needed]}. In 2002, There's A Story To This Moral was released to critical acclaim^{[citation needed]}. Slow Fade Or How I Learned To Question Infinity was recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia with Blair Calibaba (Gob, Propagandhi) and Paul Forgues (Slayer, Nine Inch Nails, Treble Charger), and became the fifth release through Smallman Records. The band was heralded by Exclaim! as "...one of the finest technically progressive bands on the planet".^[1]

Choke has toured with The Ataris^{[citation needed]}, No Use for a Name^{[citation needed]}, Satanic Surfers^{[citation needed]} and Bad Religion^{[citation needed]}, Strung Out^{[citation needed]} and AFI^{[citation needed]}, Good Riddance^{[citation needed]}, My Chemical Romance^{[citation needed]}, Small Brown Bike^{[citation needed]} & Piebald^{[citation needed]}.

Breakup

On April 3, 2007, the members of Choke announced the end of the band on their official website. They also announced a farewell tour across Canada beginning in May 2007. Band members Shawn Moncrieff and Clay Shea have started a new band Passenger Action with Ryan Podlubny (ex The Fullblast, fordirelifesake) and Allan Harding (ex Thirty Nights of Violence, Sleeping Girl, and path of a logical liar, and manager/co-owner of the Acoustic Drum Shop, Edmonton AB). Jack Jaggard has also started a new experimental indie band Team Building. Stefan Levasseur has not made any comment on his plans.

Band members

• Stefan Levasseur - Drums
• Clay Shea - Bass Guitar/Vocals
• Jack Jaggard- Guitar/Vocals
• Shawn Moncrieff - Guitar/Vocals

Discography

• Lotion (1994)
• Give'er (1995)
• Needless To Say (1998)
• Foreword (1999)
• Across The Water (Split with Adhesive, Layaway Plan & Astream) (2001)
• There's A Story To This Moral (2002)
• Slow Fade Or: How I Learned To Question Infinity (2005)

See also

• List of bands from Canada

External links

• Official Smallman Records site

References

1. ^ Exclaim! article - March 2005