Screeching Weasel

Screeching Weasel was a punk band from Chicago, Illinois. They formed in 1986, fronted by future Maximum RocknRoll columnist Ben Weasel (aka Ben Foster) and John Jughead (aka John Pierson). Through the years, the band went through many line-up changes up until their 2003 break-up. Members included renowned punk rock record producer Mass Giorgini on bass guitar, Dan Panic (born Dan Sullivan) on drums, and Danny Vapid (born Dan Schafer, currently in The Methadones and briefly Sludgeworth) on guitar and bass, depending on the band's necessity.

Their lyrics reflected Weasel's "anti-everything" apolitical orientation set to music that was melodic and derivative of the Ramones. Girls and paranoia were common subjects for songs as well. Many centered on his relationship with Weasel's then girlfriend Portia.

Their music has transformed from the traditional punk when they began, to their long-standing, distinctive punk/pop sound, and later to a more fast-paced and melodic type of punk. Through his writings in Maximum RocknRoll, fanzines, and lyrics, Ben Weasel established himself as one of the most pungent internal critics of the punk scene. As an example, in the 1999 song Tightrope, Weasel launched a rather pointed attack on the glorification of violence and chauvinism by what he termed "tough-guy, so-called working class or street punk bands." Later, punk band Rancid referred briefly to this song in the liner notes of their 2003 album, Indestructible.

Members of Screeching Weasel have gone on to form bands such as: The Methadones, The Mopes, Even in Blackouts, and Sweet Black And Blue. Screeching Weasel has also included members of Green Day, Sludgeworth, Common Rider, Squirtgun, and Teen Idols. For a short time during one of many break-ups, Weasel and Vapid also formed The Riverdales. Additionally, Ben Weasel released a solo record in 2002 entitled Fidatevi.

Screeching Weasel officially broke up for (roughly) the third - and allegedly final - time on July 6, 2001.

In 2004 Ben Weasel rescinded all of the Screeching Weasel and Riverdales masters from Lookout! Records in the wake of long-running financial and personal conflicts. The masters were subsequently licensed to and reissued by Asian Man Records.