Songs for
Snakes, with their Charcoal Heather album should, if there's any
justice, blow some cobwebs away on the, for lack of a better term,
alt-punk scene.
For those
who are still mourning the loss of band like Jawbreaker and Husker Du
here's one that will make you smile again.
On this,
their second album, it's actually difficult to point out anywhere
that you could consider that they've put a foot wrong.
While
they do wear their influences on their sleeves for all to see they're
far removed from being a band who are simply rehashing the past
glories of their idols, and in doing so offering a 'mark 2' service
for a younger audience.
Instead
this is a hungry sounding band who are looking to take what some
would consider a familiar sound, and make it their own, and track
after track there's plenty of evidence to support that this isn't
something that is beyond their grasp.
If I was
pushed to describe it in one sentence then I'd say that it's a hook
laden assault on the ears that's accompanied by some raw punk vocals
that manage to maintain a solid balance between the melody and
aggression.
Unfortunately
that wouldn't actually convey just how good it is.
After
listening to Charcoal Heather from start to finish, and then comparing
it to their self titled debut it seems glaringly obvious that they
have pushed the envelope a great deal, and went from being a band who
promised good things to one who are now in the position of delivering
on them.
This is
an album that given the opportunity will make a great deal of
previously jaded music fans sit up and take notice.
On a side
note I'll also add that when bands get in touch out of the blue
looking for a review, and then provide material as strong as this it
makes doing the whole blog feel rather worthwhile.
So mucho
gracios Bill, it made my week.
No comments:
Post a Comment