Actionslacks is a rock band based in the United States. Yes, the country. Because while 2 of the band - singer-guitarist Tim Scanlin and lead guitarist Chuck Lindo - reside in the greater Los Angeles area, bassist Ross Murray lives in the Bay Area, and drummer Marty Kelly hangs his hat in Waterville, Maine.

It's been a long, strange trip for this outfit, which formed from the ashes of various collegiate bar bands in and around Berkeley, CA in 1994. The band has since released 5 albums on 4 different national labels, had 12 different members, logged over 50,000 miles, played hundreds of shows, contributed music to numerous film and television projects, and generally endured all manner of threats and pitfalls that haunt any band who dares to shoulder the Mantle of Rock. However, some things have never changed: Kelly on the skins, Scanlin on the wires/mics, and an unswerving dedication to and obsession with writing Songs. For Actionslacks the melody is key. It doesn't always have to be pretty, but if you don't have one, you don't have a song.

Actionslacks formed when New Jersey-native Kelly responded to a "drummer wanted" flyer posted by Scanlin and bass player Mark Wijsen. The three hit it off and in late summer 1994 they started practicing regularly in an abandoned factory in Emeryville, just south of Berkeley. Songs were written, shows were played, and demos were made, one of which wound its way to the offices of the Minneapolis label Skene! (Candy Machine, Lifter Puller, Hard-Ons) and its proprietor Jeff Spiegel. The resultant long-playing Slacks debut, Too Bright, Just Right, Goodnight, garnered impressive write-ups and considerable radio play. After months on the road the band returned home to record a follow-up, One Word, for Brooklyn's up-and-coming Arena Rock Recording Company (Luna, Elf Power, Superdrag). Thirteen months and numerous near-fist fights later, the opus, complete with a full-string section on five songs, was done. Its release in 1998 saw the band receiving even more press and increased attention at college radio. Another monster voyage around the US culminated in a theater tour supporting then-buzz band (and one-time Arena Rock colleagues) Harvey Danger.

Scanlin and Kelly began 1999 by amicably parting ways with Wijsen and firing their booking agent. An often uneasy relationship with the road gave way to a year of woodshedding in their Oakland practice space, writing the songs for what would become The Scene's Out Of Sight. Enlisting the help of a veritable cast of thousands, including ex-members of Samiam, Sunny Day Real Estate, the Mr. T Experience, the Mommyheads, and Pell Mell, Scanlin and Kelly eventually got the songs where they needed to be. The album was finally tracked (with Mr. T bassist and all-around stellar human being Aaron Rubin holding down the low end) in the fall of '99. Presiding over the sessions was one of the band's heroes: J. Robbins, singer-guitarist for the late great Jawbox and Burning Airlines. Much to the band's delight, Robbins also pitched in on vocals, guitars and piano, making it a truly collaborative effort. In addition to another album, a life-long friendship was born.

Though the album was done, the band still needed a permanent bass player. Enter Ross Murray, erstwhile string-plucker for defunct San Francisco pop-rockers Amateur Night. Murray came to his first rehearsal having learned every song the band had ever written. That, combined with his incredible musicianship and nice guy persona, landed him the gig.

In late '99 the newly revitalized Slacks decided to hang their collective hat with NYC's The Self-Starter Foundation, the brainchild of talent buyer (Tramps, Warsaw) Chris Newmyer, and home to such acts as Les Savy Fav, the Mooney Suzuki, Lifter Puller and John Schmersal's ex-Brainiac outfit, Enon. Extensive touring followed the album's release, and by the close of 2001, after tours and supports with a multitude of bands, including Buffalo Tom, Girls Against Boys, Ocean Colour Scene, the Promise Ring, Superchunk, Jets to Brazil and Superdrag, the band was exhausted but satisfied with a job well done.

The next piece of the Slacks puzzle arrived early in 2002 in the form of guitarist Chuck Lindo. A native of St. Louis and a veteran of the San Francisco music scene, Lindo represented the answer the band's prayers: a musician of incredible talent and breadth, who was also well adjusted and devoid of ego. Chuck's involvement with the Slacks dates back to a sizeable contribution (on vocals and guitars) to The Scene's Out of Sight. Ever since then he's vastly improved the band, both on stage and in the studio.

In the spring of 2002 the band released an EP, Never Never Shake, Baby, on Austin's excellent Post-Parlo imprint. Following that, they got down to the business of recording their next full-length.

No one was really prepared for the logistical insanity that marked the creation of the band's latest - and best - album, Full Upright Position. Completed over the last 3 years while the band was spread out around California, it saw the Slacks working at 8 different studios, from San Francisco to Washington, DC. Once again, J. Robbins took the helm, displaying an incredible amount of patience and skill in the face of often overwhelming adversity. Frankly, he deserves a medal. The album was finally completed in the fall of 2003, and released on April 20th, 2004 on The Self-Starter Foundation.

In August of 2004 the Slacks celebrated their 10th anniversary, which they thought was kind of insane, but kinda cool.

And on and on the story goes...