If you were not aware, with a classic rock ‘n’ roll sound as powerful as their band name, Slamdinistas are ready to take a step onto the world stage.

The band’s five members have spent their lives writing and performing, and those musical chops are blazingly apparent in their contemporary take on New York glitter trash, Detroit street punk, and British Invasion rave-ups.

The band includes singer/guitarist Gabriel Johns (FiDo, Shelter), guitarist Loren Molinare (The Dogs, Little Caesar, Cruzados), drummer Brian Irving (Gilby Clarke, Chris Spedding), guitarist Mike Gavigan (The Blessings), and bassist Peter Downing (The Adam Sandler Band, Jail Guitar Doors).

The formation of the Slamdinistas began to take shape in Los Angeles in 2015. Johns had hired Molinare to produce his debut solo album (2018’s Love Lives Here), and when it came time to start work on a follow-up, they instead opted to work on a group project.

“The name ‘Slamdinistas’ was suggested by Brian,” revealed Molinare. “Besides the great play on words related to the Clash, it tips its hat to anarchy in a political sense, and it’s a powerful name that projects what we envision as our sound.”

The debut album from Slamdinistas, Shoot for the Stars, was released by Rum Bar Records in September 2022. The band played local dates in support and ventured outside California to perform in New York and New Jersey. The album was quick to win accolades. The album’s focus single, “Brand New Day,” enjoyed heavy rotation on Little Steven’s Underground Garage channel on Sirius XM.

Slamdinistas reconvened in 2024 to record a second album, the just-released Wild & Restless, with producer Paul Roessler (the Screamers, 45 Grave) at Kitten Robot Studios in Los Angeles. A holiday single, “Santa’s in a Punk Band Now,” arrived shortly before Christmas.

1. Where I Belong
2. Wild & Restless
3. Oh Yeah
4. Reason to Believe
5. Weather the Storm
6. Johnny Wallflower
7. Latch Key Kids (Radio Edit)
8. Rock ’N Roll Clown
9. Should Have Known Better
10. Sick of It All
11. I’m Okay
12. Latch Key Kids (Extended Version)
13. Latch Key Kids (Dance Version)

This new collection of hard rock and pop hooks, all delivered by a tight line-up of veteran musicians, opens on the gritty rocker Where I Belong and the indie-pop stance of the titular Wild & Restless, and then we get brought forth the boisterous Oh Yeah, the impassioned rock of Reason to Believe, the alt-pop-rock of Weather the Storm, and then both the emboldened Johnny Wallflower and the melodious, Cult-esque Latch Key Kids (Radio Edit) are served up.

Along next is the rambunctious, 60’s Stones-esque Rock ’N Roll Clown and the languishing, yet guitar savvy rocker Should Have Known Better, and they in turn are backed seamlessly by the pulsating Sick of It All, the quite brilliant I’m Okay, the new set closing out on two different versions of Latch Key Kids - a rousing Extended Version and a vibrant, drum-led Dance Version.

Molinare gets the last word: “Los Angeles is a melting pot for musicians, and it certainly was crucial for us finding each other. But we don’t consider ourselves to be a distinctly L.A. band because none of us were born here. Gabriel comes the closest to being a native because his family moved here when he was two years old. The rest of us grew up in the Midwest and on the East Coast.”

“Honestly, I see the Slams as a dirty (NYC) Lower East Side rock ‘n’ roll band that would have hung out down at the pub with Dave Edmunds and the Rolling Stones.”

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