Street Dogs are a punk rock band originally from Boston, Massachusetts. Among its ranks are Mike McColgan, former lead singer of The Dropkick Murphys, Johnny Rioux, Marcus Hollar, Tobe Bean III and Paul Rucker.

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History

In 1998, McColgan left Dropkick Murphys to pursue a life-long dream of becoming a firefighter for the Boston Fire Department. In 2002, McColgan decided he could no longer stay away from music and formed Street Dogs. Their first album, Savin Hill , was a success and resulted in a supporting tour with Celtic punk band Flogging Molly.

The band underwent a complete shuffle in 2004 when McColgan took a leave of absence from his firefighting career to devote time to recording and promoting their second album Back to the World .The Street Dogs at this time enlisted Marcus Hollar on lead guitar, and expanded the range of their sound with the addition of rhythm guitarist Tobe Bean III. The drummer's spot was filled by Joe Sirois, formerly of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

Their second release, Back To The World , proved to be even more of a success for the band. It was hailed critically in the United States, Europe and Japan and opened the doors to touring with the notable likes of Social Distortion, Tiger Army, Bad Religion, Millencolin (in Europe), The Bouncing Souls (US And Japan) and The Briefs. The band also toured on the Vans Warped Tour in the summer of 2005 and embarked on their first headlining tours in the US and Europe.

2006 saw more shows, both headlining and opening for the likes of Rancid ^[1], The Adolescents ^[2] and The Bouncing Souls ^[3]. Also in 2006, released their third album, Fading American Dream . It was recorded earlier in the year with producer Ted Hutt (Flogging Molly, Madcap, The Bouncing Souls).

While on tour opening for Flogging Molly on February 27, 2007 show at the Sokol Auditorium in Omaha, NE, bass player Johnny Rioux collapsed on stage due to an apparent seizure. McColgan stopped the show and called for paramedics. At the start of the Flogging Molly set, lead singer Dave King dedicated the show to Johnny and announced that he was all right and would be well enough to play the next night in St. Louis. Following that tour, more dates came headlining as well as European shows.

In February 2008, it was announced that the Street Dogs signed on to Hellcat Records. Their fourth album, State of Grace , for Hellcat, which they started recording in early February 2008, once again with Ted Hutt ^[4] was released on July 8, 2008 ^[5].

At recent shows, Street Dogs have been promoting Oxfam America, a humanitarian organization fighting poverty and hunger. McColgan spoke to the crowd mid-set at the Bamboozle Festival in New Jersey in May 2008 about the organization while wearing an Oxfam t-shirt. Street Dogs went on to release State Of Grace July 8th to widespread critical acclaim and then embarked on the entire 2008 Vans Waped tour as a main stage act. Following their Warped tour stint, the group set out on their successful fall State Of Grace headlining tour and more recently finished up the European Eastpak Antidote tour. In December the group spoke on their website, myspace and facebook pages of extensive 2009 touring plans in continued support of their latest release State Of Grace.

Members

Current

• Mike McColgan – vocals (2002 – )
• Johnny Rioux – bass (2003 – )
• Marcus Hollar – lead guitar (2004 – )
• Tobe Bean III – rhythm guitar (2004 – )
• Paul Rucker – drums (2007 – )

Former

• Rob Guidotti – guitar (2002 – 2004)
• Jeff Erna – drums (2002 – 2004)
• Joe Sirois – drums (2004 – 2007)
• Michelle Palhaus - bass (2002 – 2003)

Discography

Albums

• Savin Hill (2003)
• Back to the World (2005)
• Fading American Dream (2006)
• State of Grace (2008)

Singles/EPs

• Demo (2002)
• Round One (split EP with The Dents) (2004)
• *Includes two tracks by Street Dogs, "Savin Hill" from Savin Hill and "One Of a Kind" exclusive to this release
• Tale of Mass Deception (2004)
• *Includes two songs from Back to the World , "In Defense of Dorchester" and "Tale of Mass Deception", and two from Savin Hill , "Declaraion" and "Borstal Breakout"
• "Two Angry Kids" (2009)
• *A digital single, includes "Two Angry Kids" from State of Grace and the exclusive b-side "Broke Down Inside"

Compilations

• Fat City Presents: Bands We Like, Vol. 1 (2003)
• *Includes the demo version of "Cut Down on the 12th" from Savin Hill
• Old Skars and Upstarts 2004 (2004)
• *Includes "Lock and Loaded", previously a vinyl-only bonus track on Savin Hill
• Fat City Presents: Bands We Like, Vol. 2 (2005)
• *Includes an alternate version of "Unions and the Law" from Back to the World
• Old Skars and Upstarts 2005 (2005)
• *Includes "Drink Tonight"
• Backyard City Rockers 4 (2007)
• *Includes "Decency Police"
• Warped Tour 2008 Tour Compilation (2008)
• *Includes "Mean Fist"

Notes

References

1. Punk News article 18709
2. Punk News article 18256
3. Punk News article 19044
4. Punknews.org | Street Dogs sign to Hellcat
5. Hellcat Records - Artist - Street Dogs