AFTER NEARLY TWO DECADES OF SERVICE IN THE CHICAGO ROCK SCENE

CHICAGO (IL) - Slugs guitarist Dag Juhlin announced via the band's website (www.theslugs.com) today (May 24, 2000) that the band will not break up at the end of the year, following completion of its live performance commitments. A band representative confirmed the decision to stay together. Famous Mistakes Records, the band's label, had no comment, no official phone number and no address.

Juhlin spoke of "fighting the food fight against the British of the world," and said he and his bandmates are "at the top of our game emotionally, spiritually, and musically" no doubt compounded by positive reaction to their latest album, "JUNIOR / the record with the bunny on the cover." The band plans to record an additional studio album later this year, and may at long last compile a live release in addition. It is scheduled to perform May 31: WXRT Benefit for AIDS Ride5 at Shaw's Crab House, June 7: Double Door (w/Marshall Crenshaw), June 11: Andersonville Midsommerfest, and June 16: Frankie's Blue Room in Naperville among other places, in what promises to be one of the busiest summers on record for the long-running band.

The Chicago-based Slugs rose to anonymity alongside The Service and Green in the mid-80s, with seminal albums such as "Non-Stop Holiday" and "Fort Fun" that waged powerful jangly guitar attacks behind Juhlin's pleading vocals. Singles such as "Walking In Circles" and "Back To The Playgrounds" became lost in the shuffle of modern-college-rock radio, helping the Slugs achieve tedious day jobs, as opposed to international superstardom.

The band sends its best wishes to all members of the Smashing Pumpkins.