SLANG GIRL was a hard rock/Punk/Goth band hailing from Syracuse, NY that formed in mid 1985 with guitarist and vocalist Matt
Pedzick (formerly of Tangled Thought); then 16 year
old guitar prodigy Sue Karlik on lead guitar; Bill
Cygan on bass and Don Renzi on drums.
SLANG GIRL Debuted at several house parties before premiering at The Lost Horizon in early '86. That year also saw them performing at
The Rolling Stone opening for The Works (fronted by Eddie Hamell), The Klub Polski, LeMoyne College and Syracuse University, gaining a diverse fan base.
Jim "Snake"Branigan replaced Bill on bass in mid 1987.
Joey "D" Reynolds was added on keyboards the same year, rounding out thier hard rock sound with a decidedly Punk/Goth edge.
This stellar lineup debuted as the opening band for National
Recording Artist Mason Ruffner on July 4th, 1987, on a hot and humid day to a packed house at the Lost Horizon in Syracuse. The band received a a great reception, paving the way for future success and gigs in and around town.
In January 1988, Don Renzi was replaced by Mark
"Clambo" McClemens on drums. The buzz for Slang Girl
was growing as they appeared in March on the local radio show
Soundcheck, on 95X in Syracuse. Clambo's
debut was in April of '88 at The Lost Horizon for a
95X local band showcase, and in December of '88 they opened up for Benny Mardones's annual Christmas Show at the Lost Horizon, which was one of their highest profile gigs at the time, recieving critical acclaim in the Herald Journal, The Post Standard and the Syracuse New Times "Pick of the Week". In the same 3 week period, Slang Girl also opened for BLUE OYSTER CULT at the Lost Horizon and on New Years Eve with Tempter at Fuoco's Hideaway.
That summer of '88 Snake was replaced by Steve Morse (the Doctor)
on bass to form what was to become the core lineup after Joey D left the band in late '88. After a few failed attempts at finding a
keyboardist, Slang Girl decided to abandon the
keyboard and settle on a more powerful rock and
roll guitar based edge. Matt and Sue always remained
the nucleus of the Slang Girl sound.
Throughout the years in Syracuse, Slang Girl developed
quite a rabid following. Other than Mason Ruffner,
they opened for National Acts like Blue
Oyster Cult (twice), Saraya and the
MASTERS OF REALITY , another great band to come out of the 80's Syracuse Scene. SLANG GIRL shared a practice room (and many beers!) with the MASTERS at the Legendary ALBINO's wherehouse. They were regular fixtures playing monthly gigs at Fuoco's Hideaway on Syracuse's
North Side, Also venturing out to shows at The Penny
Arcade in Rochester (opening for Saraya), and showcasing at NYC's famous CBGB's in August of
1989, just weeks before their final move, relocating to the New York City/Jersey City, NJ area.
On September 1st, 1989 Slang Girl played their final
Syracuse show before moving at Fuoco's Hideaway to an overflowing
audience. Nick Fuoco said was one of the
biggest and most lucrative shows ever at the Hideaway.
They returned to Syracuse occasionally for select
shows including the annual 100 kegger beer blast knows as
Nikstock at Nunzi's in Oswego. On Memorial Day weekend in 1993 they returned to record a demo at Penguin Studios
in East Syracuse with producer Steve Feldman at the
helm.
In '92-'93, the band STREETCLEANER opened for SLANG GIRL (Streetcleaner: drummer
RAKU , formerly of the hardcore punk band A.M.I and Cartoon Violence, reknown Syracuse solo artist
Mike Notarthomas & Bassist
John Quigg ) at Fuoco's Hideaway and The Lost Horizon. A longtime friend and fan of the band, Raku was kidnapped weeks later by CLAMBO & brought down to live at Matt & Sue's in their Jersey City house at 42 Graham St, spending his time playin' drums in random punk bands and speakun' drunken poetry readings in New York City until Clambo left the band in late '93, making way for Raku on drums, solidifying Slang Girl's Heavy Sound.
Soon after joining SLANG GIRL, Raku moved into the apartment below, and needing a roomate, called his good friend
WALT STACK (soon to be guitarist for
THE BULLYS , and the Stand-in Bassist for SLANG GIRL & SUPERTHRIVE) to join him from Albany, effectively taking control of the house, moving out of their shitty ghetto practice room in Pasaic, NJ and building a jam room out back in the garage that begun the golden years of creativity at 42 Graham St. that became the bands home base.
After releasing their last Vinyl EP (Hardline/Stress Fracture), the Bassist Dr. Steve left the band, and
JAMUS graciously filled the role for SLANG GIRL's debut shows at THE CONTINENTAL and the often weekly shows at THE SCRAP BAR in NYC (among others). With JAMUS moving upstate a year later, the long search ensued for a new bass player through various freeks and nutbags, when
BIG JIM SLADE appeared at the door and joined MATT, SUE & RAKU, effectively ending SLANG GIRL and giving birth to
SUPERTHRIVE . And that my friends, is a whole different story....
~ Bio by Evil Nick Cannone and Raku.
This page was created by RAKU. The album 'STATIONS OF THE CROSS (1987-1993)' was edited and compiled by RAKU &
Scott DePalma around the beginning of the Millennium. Thanks to CLAMBO, EVIL NICK CANNONE & KRISSY BANKS for the out-of-print and hard to find songs that were compiled to make this album.
Special Thanks to STEVE FELDMAN (who produced and engineered many of the tracks) and JEFF 'THE MOLE" MOLESKI (who also fixed all their broken equipment!!!) and JOSEPH LARKIN, who created the original artwork for their tape released "ANYHOW" and their Limited-Edition Vinyl EP, and used for this album and on the MYSPACE Page.
