Guts of The Ice - Halloween Edition: THE ZAMBONIS & James Kochalka Reunite for "Hockey Monkey Mash" Music Video/Digital Single

It's been quite a while since our last proper installment of our once-recurring column, Guts of The Ice: An Exploration of "Puck" Rock/Hockey-core... but today, we're back with a spook-tacular edition of Guts of The Ice just in time for Halloween! Past installments featured interviews, artist penned-columns, playlists, etc. with the likes of players from The Boils, Dropkick Murphys, Two Man Advantage, The Hextalls, The Hanson Brothers/Nomeansno, D.O.A. OFFSIDE REIDARS, Pansy Division, Violent Society, RAMOMS, CHIXDIGGIT! Light The Lamp, Protagonist, and Divided Heaven. One of our personal favorite squads we spoke with was Connecticut-based Punk-adjacent band, THE ZAMBONIS. We interviewed "Captain" Dave Zamboni, as well as band mascot The Hockey Monkey, and even had H. Monkey himself conduct a completey B-A-N-A-N-A-S Q&A with Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's own Light The Lamp.


Through our various conversations, THE ZAMBONIS seemed to indicate they would be releasing a new album in Fall 2020, which as a direct effect of COVID-19, now appears as though it will be released in early 2021. We've already heard "E.B.U.G." THE ZAMBONIS' tribute to Zamboni driver turned Emergency Back-up Goalie (or E.B.U.G.) David Ayres and now, they've re-assembled for a freshly re-surfaced brand new cut. "Hockey Monkey Mash" pays homage to both THE ZAMBONIS' own "Hockey Monkey" and infectious festive favorite, "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. THE ZAMBONIS "Hockey Monkey Mash" Team Players include James Kochalka Superstar on vocals, Tim Walsh supplying melotron, piano, and bass, drummer Rich Dart, guitarist Cary Pollick, kids background vocals by Will Katis & Charlie Schneider, vocals and production by Dave Schneider, and mixing, production, and organ duties handled by ZAMBONIS Co-founder Peter Katis.


It was very recently recorded, produced and mixed at Tarquin Studios on 10/01/20 in loveley Bridgeport, Connecticut with amazing hand-drawn single artwork by James Kochalka himself. "Hockey Monkey Mash" was written by James Kochalka, Peter Katis, Jon Aley, Tarquin Katis & Dave Schneider. Below, you'll find a bit of the backstory on THE ZAMBONIS' "Hockey Monkey" & "Hockey Monkey Mash," along with a spook-tacular new video for the latter, as well, directed by Matt Valade & Kicker Pictures. Additionally, we had THE ZAMBONIS' Hardcore rocking, banana-splitting, guitar-smahing primate, The Hockey Monkey curate a video playlist of some frightfully festive jams to be added onto your haunted playlists. THE ZAMBONIS' "Hockey Monkey Mash" is currently a Bandcamp exclusive, but should be available on additional digital retailers by All Hallows' Eve.


"In 1996, James Kochalka left a Voicemail on Dave Zamboni's answering machine: "Hey, it's James. I think THE ZAMBONIS should write a song about a hockey-playing monkey." When such a great idea is pitched, great people listen (not "smart," but, "great" people.) The two teams put their heads together and wrote and recorded "Hockey Monkey." In 1997, James Kochalka & THE ZAMBONIS released the song, "Hockey Monkey." Produced by Original ZAMBONI & GRAMMY-winning Peter Katis (Interpol, The National, Kurt Vile, etc. etc.) the song and video took on a life of its own. Nickelodeon's legendary show, KaBlam! made a video for it, FOX TV used it as THE THEME [SONG] for a show called The Loop. EA Sports put it on its classic PlayStation/Xbox game soundtrack, NHL HITZ. The moneys made from the song gave JAMES the freedom to quit his job at a Chinese restaurant in Burlington, Vermont. It, also, gave THE ZAMBONIS the chance to, perhaps, pay a manager and a publicist to further their career, but, instead, they bought a $2,500 monkey suit and created their mascot/best primate buddy, The Hockey Monkey. The whole crew is back and have written a new special Hockey Halloween haunter! THE ZAMBONIS, James Kochalka Superstar & Peter Katis Present: "Hockey Monkey Mash!"

Hello, Witzards! Your old pal, H. Monkey from THE ZAMBONIS here. By now, you have heard about our new spooky Halloween-themed single, "Hockey Monkey Mash." While this is sure to be a new Halloween classic, I thought you can use a few more songs to round out your haunted playlists."

The Ultimate Hockey Monkey-approved Halloween Playlist

01. The Ramones - "Pet Sematary" [1989]
(Hey, Dave Zamboni: I don't want to be buried in a "pet sematary" ...or is it "cemetary?" Either way, I hope for something better!)

02. The Mighty Mighty BossToneS - "Devils Night Out" (1989)

03. Alice Cooper - "Feed My Frankenstein" (1991)

04. The Cramps - "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" (1980)

05. The Misfits - "Halloween" (1981)

- The Hockey Monkey (@TheHockeyMonkey)