Slapshot not only were easily the longest-lasting of all the original Boston hardcore bands, but they managed to stay musically relevant much longer than, say,
Gang Green. Released in 1996,
16 Valve Hate is a fully aggro blast of old-school hardcore, so defiantly true to the style's roots that it sounds timeless instead of retro. Original drummer Mark McKay even returns to the lineup to complete the circa-1984 picture. Songs like the barking "I Want You Dead" are standard-issue
Slapshot, complete with Jack Kelly's familiar hoarse but surprisingly expressive vocals, but the standouts are the heartfelt and unexpectedly catchy title track and, somewhat surprisingly, a version of
the Smiths' "Bigmouth Strikes Again" that's not at all the usual hardcore mockery of some poncy British art-school band, but a complete transformation of
Morrissey's original song into a brutal but shockingly apt hardcore beatdown. Seriously, who knew that a line like "Now I know how Joan of Arc felt" would sound so right in a hardcore context? That sort of thing is what made
Slapshot more than just another hardcore band. ~ Stewart Mason