HOCKEY NIGHT, with dual guitarists and two drummers, is one of the most original and singular rock bands to come out of Minnesota in years. The duality of singer/principal songwriter Paul Sprangers and his co-lead guitarist, Scott Wells, drives and inspires HOCKEY NIGHT's ferociously original vision of new rock and roll music. Sprangers is one of the first musicians to fully mine and revisit 90's... Read More.

HOCKEY NIGHT, with dual guitarists and two drummers, is one of the most original and singular rock bands to come out of Minnesota in years. The duality of singer/principal songwriter Paul Sprangers and his co-lead guitarist, Scott Wells, drives and inspires HOCKEY NIGHT's ferociously original vision of new rock and roll music. Sprangers is one of the first musicians to fully mine and revisit 90's indie rock as his principle inspiration, while Scott Wells keeps his feet firmly planted in the big guitar of classic rock. Rarely are two guitars used as creatively as Wells and Sprangers whose harmonized dual guitar lines often earn comparisons to the Allmans or Thin Lizzy. The two drummers, Alex Achen and Adam Harness, with their slippery dual-drum kit attack, provide the catalyst for HOCKEY NIGHT's energetic live show. Achen, Wells and Sprangers are lifelong friends from Red Wing, MN a unique and somewhat isolated river town south of the twin cities. The three young men consummated their years of experience and experiments in "The Renegades," a much-loved Minnesota spazz-punk group whose insane live shows and improvisational "jams" earned them cult status in the thriving Twin Cities underground, as well as opening slots for larger local and national touring acts. A bartender at the Pilot Light in Knoxville, TN once described The Renegades as "a cross between Truman's Water, Karp, and The Replacements." On his own, Sprangers had been recording hundreds of lo-fi pop songs as "The Hockey Night." 1998's "Blue EP" was a college radio hit. In the summer of 2001, Sprangers began work on a full-length record without knowing how it would be released or who would ever hear it. What began as a collection of 4-track demos and half-ideas was crafted into the ambitious 2002 release, "Rad Zapping," with impeccable production and guidance lent by Minneapolis man-about-town and uber-producer Jeremy Ylvisaker (Fog, Dosh, Lateduster, Mark Mallman, Redstart). At this point "The Renegades" and "The Hockey Night" became simply "HOCKEY NIGHT" and began writing the songs that would become fodder for "Keep Guessin'." After three years of touring America's bars, basements, universities, dorm rooms, VFWs, granges, snack shacks, beaches, kitchens and hospital parking lots, HOCKEY NIGHT has stirred the muck of the vast American underground, creating word-of-mouth buzz that has followed them back and forth across the country. HOCKEY NIGHT has embarked down a path of musical curiosity and creativity, unabashedly inspired by and wholly embracing classic rock, like Thin Lizzy, Boston, T. Rex, Journey, Springsteen and, yes, Pavement. Basic tracks for "Keep Guessin'" were recorded in two weeks at the Terrarium and Dynasty! Basement Studios in Minneapolis due to dwindling funds and closing windows of available time. These frenetic and sleepless recording sessions belie the record's mature assurance, creative production, and curious studio embellishments. The raw tracks were soon polished, mixed, and then re-mixed by legendary knob wizard Bryce Goggin (Pavement, Chavez, Low, Phish) at Trout Studios in NYC. The result a genuinely creative and inspired record that weaves countless replayable pop hooks through soulful guitar witchery and experimentation.