Static Shock Records is an English independent record label, gig promoter, and distributor specialising in underground

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

founded in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 2008. From 2012 to 2023 the label organised a 'Static Shock Weekend' festival most years, held at different venues around the city.

History

Static Shock was founded in London by Tom Ellis in 2008. Its first release was a 7” from the Canadian power pop band Dangerloves, after seeing the band play at Toronto's Fucked Up Weekend, now called Not Dead Yet Fest. The label's next release was a 7” from his own band, The Shitty Limits, called ''Here Are The Limits''. The label has since released music by bands from all over Europe, North America, and Australia. Since 2012 the label has organised the 'Static Shock Weekend' festival most years at different venues in the city. Bands to play the festival include

Iron Lung An iron lung is a type of negative pressure ventilator, a medical ventilator, mechanical respirator which encloses most of a person's body and varies the air pressure in the enclosed space to stimulate breathing. It assists breathing when Musc ...

Pharmakon In critical theory, pharmakon is a concept introduced by Jacques Derrida. It is derived from the Greek source term φάρμακον (''phármakon''), a word that can mean either remedy, poison, or scapegoat. In his essay "Plato's Pharmacy", Der ...

Limp Wrist Limp Wrist is an American punk rock band, who formed in 1998. Featuring members of Los Crudos, Hail Mary, Devoid of Faith, By the Throat, and Kill the Man Who Questions, the band plays short, fast hardcore punk, hardcore music, and covers them ...

, Sauna Youth, and Sheer Mag. On 6 July 2023 the label announced they would stop putting these on after a final festival the coming September.

Acclaimed releases

Debuting on 6 July 2017 via streaming by

NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

and physically released 14 July 2017 in a co-release with the Wilsuns Recording Company, Static Shock Records released '' Need To Feel Your Love'' by Sheer Mag. It received acclaim from reviewers, some of them calling it one of the best LPs of 2017.Gotrich, Lars (6 July 2017)
"Review: Sheer Mag, 'Need To Feel Your Love'"
''

''. Retrieved 24 January 2018. '' Need To Feel Your Love'' was included in the top 30 of year-end lists of publications such as

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

, Slant Magazine,

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company ...

, and Paste. On 19 October 2018 the label released ''Raise Your Voice Joyce: Contemporary Shouts From Contemporary Voices'', a compilation of music covertly recorded by the Canadian band

Fucked Up Fucked Up is a Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2001. The band consists of guitarists Mike Haliechuk and Josh Zucker, bassist Sandy Miranda, lead vocalist Damian Abraham and drummer Jonah Falco. From 2007 to 2021, t ...

, though uncredited, with lyrics and vocals performed by members of UK and European punk bands including

Nekra Nekra (Nekra Sinclair) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Steve Gerber and Ross Andru for the 1973 comic book ''Shanna the She-Devil''. She is a mutant caused by an atomic ...

, Good Throb,

Arms Race An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more State (polity), states to have superior armed forces, concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and ...

, Sauna Youth, Terrible Feelings, and more. In January 2020 the label released ''Speed Kills'', the debut album by punk-indebted

pub rock Pub rock is a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the early to mid-1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, which incorporated roots rock, pub rock was a reaction against the expensively-recorded and produced progressive rock ...

band Chubby and the Gang. It quickly received positive reviews from the likes of

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

and

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

Artists on Static Shock Records

*Ajax *Alvilda *AMMO *ASSISTERT SJØLMORD *ATAQUE ZERO *Beta Blockers *Blazing Eye *Bootlicker * Career Suicide * Chubby and the Gang *Cold Meat *Creem *Dangerloves *DELCO MF'S *Disguise *Efialtis *

Frau ''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...

*GLAAS *GOLPE *Hygiene *Idiota Civilizzato *Impalers *Imploders *Krimewatch *KORO *LASSO *L.O.T.I.O.N *The Love Triangle *LUCTA *Music City *Nasti *Negative Gears *Neutrals *No *The Number Ones *Oily Boys *Perspex Flesh *Powerplant *Sarcasm * Sauna Youth *Sievehead * Sheer Mag *S.H.I.T. *The Shitty Limits *Stigmatism *Strutter *The Flex *The Hazmats *TV Crime *Tyrannamen *

Uranium Club Uranium Club (also known as The Minneapolis Uranium Club Band) is an American punk rock band based in Minneapolis. The band consists of members Brendan Wells, Harry Wohl, Ian Stemper and Matt Stagner. The band has released four albums on Static ...

*Urban Blight *Violent Future * Violent Reaction *Warthog *White Collar *Young Governor

References

Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom British independent record labels Record labels established in 2008 Punk record labels {{Independent-record-label-stub