New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Knapsack is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the band's third and final album This Conversation Is Ending Starting Right Now which was released on
September 8, 1998. To commemorate the milestone, the band and Spartan Records have released a new video for, arguably, the album's most popular track "Katherine The Grateful", that pulls content from the label's oral history / book This Version of Truth, which was included with the band's recent box set.
Founding member Blair Shehan says, "Back when I was in high school we would have spirit assemblies, towards the end of the year, where they would project a slide show of photos of students set to music. Whenever they would show a picture of cool kids doing cool kids stuff, like playing powder puff football, the crowd would go bonkers. Not so much if an errant photo of punk rockers or an unpopular kid made it's way onto the screen.
In honor of the 25th anniversary of 'This Conversation Is Ending Starting Right Now' Spartan Records has put together a music video. They stacked the presentation with flyers and photos of just us and our friends and set it to music we made. Enjoy this little spirit assembly and feel free to go bonkers."
To order the reissues, and the box set visit: https://spr.tn/knapsack
In February, Spartan released Knapsack's three full-length albums,
Silver Sweepstakes (1995), Day Three of My New Life (1997), and This Conversation Is Ending Starting Right Now (1998), fully remastered for vinyl, with each including an out-of-print bonus track.
In addition, Spartan released an exclusive limited edition, hand-numbered box set which includes three exclusive variants and the book, titled This Version of Truth.
This Version of Truth is an oral history of the highly influential band, but also the story of like-minded bands coming together in a time before GPS, mobile phones, the internet, and social media. The 72-page book includes over a hundred exclusive flyers and photos, a complete show archive, and interviews with members of the band as well as members Mineral, Boys Life, Christie Front Drive, 7 Seconds, and other notable contributors. The result is a time capsule from a bygone era of independent music, a must-have for fans of Knapsack.
Beautifully packaged in a hand-number hardcover slipcase with new art direction by Jeff Caudill (Gameface, Low Coast), this special edition release features the band's complete catalog remastered for vinyl with three out-of-print bonus tracks and includes three exclusive vinyl variants only available in this box set.
Knapsack was an emo/indie rock band that was formed in 1993 by Blair Shehan (vocals/guitar) and Colby Mancasola (drums). Shehan and Mancasola were two high school friends studying at the University of California, Davis. Guitarist Jason Bokros and bassist Rod Meyer completed the lineup. By 1994, the band had recorded a single for independent label Goldenrod Records and signed with Alias Records later that year. Their debut album
Silver Sweepstakes was released in 1995. They then toured extensively playing with bands such as Pavement, Rocket from the Crypt, Jawbox and Drive Like Jehu. Bokros left the group before the release of their second album Day Three of My New Life in 1997. He was replaced by Sergie Loobkoff of Samiam. Their third album This Conversation is Ending Starting Right Now was released in 1998. Knapsack reunited in 2013 to tour North America, Europe, and Australia.
Knapsack is Blair Shehan, Colby Mancasola, Sergie Loobkoff, and Edward Breckenridge
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Label: www.spartanrecords.com
What
Others Have Said:
- "A band that walked the line between indie rock and emo, always hinting at a breakout beyond those confines."- AV Club
"The sound of early-aughts pop emo unfolding in early 1997. Had they formed a few years later, Knapsack would've been Jimmy Eat World." ("100 Greatest Emo Songs Of All Time") - Vulture
- "When it comes to Knapsack, either you love them or they aren't on your radar. The group lasted from 1993 to 2000 and during that time, they released three flawless albums. While members have all gone on to play in acts like Samiam and the Jealous Sound, there's always been something indefinable about Knapsack's brand of music. You could call it "emo," but that doesn't really do it justice because the hooks are just as massive as the introspective narratives frontman Blair Shehan effortlessly weaves."- Vice
- "Knapsack's debut is a spot-on example of the bridge between punk and emo." ("20 emo classics that helped define today's scene") - Alternative Press
- "In the years before "emo" became a dirty word — that'd be 1995 to 1998 — this California outfit delivered three albums of potent, crunching self-flagellation. Their awesomely titled swan song, This Conversation Is Ending Starting Right Now, is a minor classic of twentysomething despair: Frontman Blair Shehan hisses venomous lyrics over sharp, lurching riffs, as strings, organ, and sleigh bells (!) dial up the drama."- SPIN
- "Their wordy powerpop-infected emo still resonates today. Especially with bands like Title Fight, Joyce Manor, and the like bringing heart-on-your-sleeve power chords to increasingly larger audiences, songs like "Thursday Side of the Street," "Katherine the Grateful," "Please Shut Off the Lights" and just about the entirety of the set sound like they could have been released yesterday. Time has treated this band well."- Brooklyn Vegan.
