Choke (band)

Choke
Origin	Edmonton
Genres	Punk rock Melodic hardcore Post-hardcore Skate punk
Years active	1994–2007, 2012–present
Labels	Smallman Records
Members	Clay Shea Jack Jaggard Shawn Moncrieff Stefan Levasseur

Choke is a Canadian punk rock band.

History

With original members Jack Jaggard, Clay Shea, Shawn Moncrieff and Stefan Levasseur, Choke has toured in Canada and the USA.

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. 1999 saw the release of Foreword. A departure from the skate-punk sound that defined "Needless to Say", "Foreword" was described jokingly by Shea as the "career killer". Despite this, Exclaim! magazine called the album "a tremendous accomplishment by punk standards". Foreword cemented the band's reputation as one of Canada's top punk acts, alongside Propagandhi, Painted Thin, and I Spy.

In 2002, There's A Story To This Moral was released followed by 2005's Slow Fade Or How I Learned To Question Infinity being 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."

In 2007 the band decided to split up after one more tour that would end in Edmonton on June 9.

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.

In late 2012 it was announced that Choke would be reuniting to tour in early 2013.

Band members

• Jack Jaggard – guitar, vocals
• Shawn Moncrieff – guitar, vocals
• Clay Shea – bass guitar, vocals
• Stefan Levasseur – drums

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

• Choke at Smallman Records website.