The Slashes' singer-guitarist, longtime South Park resident Esteban Rene, attended boarding school in Ensenada, while bassist Beto Bautista grew up in Tijuana. Rene met Bautista while both were working for Hornblower Cruises.
Rene said original drummer Marco Piro (formerly of Octagrape and Wild Wild Wets) is “the animal in the band. He wants to bite heads off of bats. I just try and keep it all together.” Piro was later replaced by Lemon Grove drummer Carlos Robles.
New singles were released in early 2018, including "Nunu's" (named after a famous local eatery) followed in May by "Heavy Bowie," which would turn up on an album in 2021. Says Rene, "Nunu’s Cocktails is about our dear little dive bar that once thrived and was the hub of the music scene before and after shows, specifically after. I just remember finishing the music to this song and being ecstatic about it, I felt alive! Just like any other musician would be after completing his or her song and feeling quite accomplished."
They earned airplay on local 91X, as well as KXLU in Los Angeles and Radio Free Brooklyn’s The Rodent Hour, based in New York. They've performed at venues in San Diego, L.A., and New York, opening for everyone from locals Louis XIV to headliners Moving Units, as well as playing the first San Diego Wonderfront Festival in 2019.
A new digital album dropped in February 2021 (followed later this year by a limited vinyl run) called Embalmers Blush. According to singer-guitarist Esteban Rene, "Inspiration for the vibe of the record, with loops and vignettes, comes from listening to full albums and long playlists during the pandemic. We wanted for there to be a thread a theme that ran through every song."
Songs include the first two singles, “Heavy Bowie” and “City By,” and the haunting ode “Rain Ballet.” Two Spanish tunes were recorded: “Extra Extra” touches on the theme of the 43 students that tragically and mysteriously disappeared while “Es Asi” pays homage to Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. "Pablo Neruda has always been a writer I admired," says Rene, "so it made sense to hear his love lorn voice at the beginning of a sad tale of a loveless subject, the protagonist, which lyrics happen to be in Spanish, first of two songs in Spanish on the album."
The album was tracked the same as their self-titled debut, at Singing Serpent Studios with Ben Moore. According to Rene, "'Heavy Bowie' and 'City By' seemed as the obvious choices to be the singles. A new direction and a new energy that spoke of what’s to come. Musically, these songs were more aggressive and shorter yet with a pop willingness."
The album was recorded during the Covid lockdown. "The Year of 2020 saw us benched and sidelined musically and our day jobs furloughing Beto our bass player and myself. Beto and I work in the maritime industry at Hornblower Cruises and Events, which happened to be shut down most of the time of Covid. Carlos our drummer works as a senior audio visual designer."
Recording was affected as well. "It felt like we were hermetically sealed in the recording room with our only method of communication with Ben was through the mics that were placed in the room and headphones." The record features the band's new drummer Carlos Robles, and guest Derek Cannon plays trumpet on "Extra Extra."
A new single dropped in early 2022 for "Valentine Slip," which according to Esteban Rene is “about accepting our true nature, the duality of the good and bad in this character, with one side winning eventually and giving in to his true self.”
April 2023 saw the release of a single for "Code Breaker," followed in July by "Dead Majesty."