Since the late 1980s the Cheater Slicks have pursued a deliberately raw garage-punk course, generating thick, abrasive noise and bleak lyrics with a steadiness few peers have sustained. Elements of blues, psychedelia, 1960s garage rock, and lo-fi punk surface within their stripped-down two-guitar-and-drums format, an approach that earned a devoted following including Mudhoney, the Dirtbombs, and the New Bomb Turks. Their profile beyond the noise-punk scene rose with the 1995 album Don't Like You, produced by Jon Spencer; after the comparatively quiet period that followed 2002's Yer Last Record, they reemerged with 2021's Piano Tunnels, recorded alongside vocalist Bill Gage, and 2023's Ill-Fated Cusses, which introduced keyboards and electronics.
Brothers Tom Shannon on guitar and lead vocals and Dave Shannon on guitar launched the group in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1987. Intent on unvarnished garage punk, they enlisted drummer Dana Hatch and bassist Merle Allin, whose earlier work included projects with his brother G.G. Allin. After establishing themselves locally, the Cambridge label Gawdawful Records issued their first album, 1989's On Your Knees. Allin soon departed, and subsequent bassists Allan "Alpo" Paulinho, formerly of the Real Kids, and Dina Pearlman passed through before the band settled on a trio format. Several singles appeared before the Australian Dog Meat label released Destination Lonely in 1991; two years later In the Red Recordings signed them and put out the 1993 album Whiskey, beginning a durable label relationship.
Fan and friend Jon Spencer produced the fourth album, Don't Like You, on which he also sang lead on "Sensitive Side," and he invited the band to open his own group's 1996 tour supporting Now I Got Worry. That same year the Cheater Slicks left Boston for Columbus, Ohio, where they recorded the expansive double album Forgive Thee at Diamond Mine Studios, featuring guest contributions from Mick Collins of the Dirtbombs. The 1998 compilation Skidmarks: A Collection of Oddities, Rarities, and Vintage Spew gathered the out-of-print On Your Knees alongside previously unreleased material from Allan "Alpo" Paulinho's tenure. Refried Dreams appeared in 1999 as their final In the Red release for some time, followed by 2002's Yer Last Record on Secret Keeper Records and 2007's Walk Into the Sea on the Columbus label Dead Canary. After the limited-edition 2009 improvisational set Bats in the Dead Trees, the band concentrated on live documents such as 2011's Gutteral (Live Vol. 1 2010) and issued the archival collection Our Food Is Chaos: The Allen Paulino Session.
Piano Tunnels, returned to In the Red in 2021, documented a collaboration with Bill Gage, singer of the Boston group BILL and among the few artists with Down Syndrome to front a rock band; proceeds benefit the Arts Resources programs of the National Association for Down Syndrome. Bill's brother John Gage played bass on those sessions. For 2023's Ill-Fated Cusses the band brought in bassist James Arthur, previously of the Necessary Evils and Fireworks, while engineer Will Foster contributed keyboards and electronics.
