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Bl'ast was a California hardcore punk and skate punk band from Santa Cruz formed in 1983. 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.

To make their logo visually "more dynamic", they added an apostrophe to fill in the gap between the letters L and A and tacked an exclamation point on to the end. This doesn't affect the actual pronunciation of the word.

Influences

Their sound, a unique mix of bands like Black Flag, SSD and Black Sabbath, is quite hard to categorize, lying somewhere in the void between hardcore and hard rock and in some ways, Bl'ast were forerunners to stoner rock, having direct ties to bands like Fu Manchu. "BL'AST! was never a typical sounding punk band and even back in the day we were really technical and metal influenced."^[1] Although released by seminal punk label SST Records, Bl'ast is also referenced in Brian Walsby's book on metal, Manchild 2.^[2] Bl'ast influenced many skate/surf punk adolecents by the way of the hardcore mosh-pitts, and aggression.

History

Stevenson left the group at some point between the release of The Power of Expression and the recording of It's In My Blood. He was briefly replaced by William DuVall, former guitarist of Atlanta, Georgia's Neon Christ. DuVall contributed a small bit of song writing to the second album (credited as "Dr. Twang") but left the band before the recording sessions took place. Blast continued with Neider as the sole guitarist from that point on. Stevenson remained friends with his former bandmates and even went on the road with them, serving as a roadie, and DuVall is the now the current vocalist for Alice In Chains.

Cooper left in 1989 and was replaced by a string of newcomers. Over the course of the next few years, Blast recorded a series of demos which showcased a new sound for the band as they began to dabble in funk.

Dinsmore left the group sometime in the early 1990s and co-founded the band Spaceboy. The rest continued on without him, with Neider taking over vocal duties. They eventually changed their name to Blackout (releasing two 7-inch EPs 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.

Bl'ast 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. Dinsmore is the lead vocalist of the band Gargantula, which is on hiatus. Neider has a new band in the works, GUSTO, featuring former Kyuss–Queens Of The Stone Age–Che'/Sort of Quartet/Across the River member Alfredo Hernandez and former Che'–Unida bassist Dave Dinsmore who also had played in Bla'st! for many years. Rumored to be laying down vocals on some tracks is John Garcia of Kyuss–UNIDA–Hermano infamy.

Dinsmore and Torgerson are currently in the band Dusted Angel, with Eric Faber, Scott Stevens and Elliot Young.

California stoner rock band Fu Manchu pay homage to Bl'ast via the titles of a song "Laserbl'ast!" from The Action is Go and records Something Beyond EP and Start the Machine which are both named after Bl'ast songs.

Albums

• The Power Of Expression - (Green World Records/Triple X/Wishingwell Records/SST Records) 1986
• It's In My Blood - (SST Records) 1987
• Take The Manic Ride - (SST Records) 1989

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.

External links

• Gusto's official website

Notes and references