The Snakes: future, past, present punk. Outsider rock ‘n’ roll for the greedy listener. De ja vu punk with satisfying sounds, dirty rhythms and shrieking tones. Cohesive blend of L.A. sleaze, post punk and pop. Melbourne based with new and old faces. The Snakes perform reptile rock with flange and overdrive, shrill budget keys and cowboy swing drumbeats. Snakes are Steph Cheeseman, Charlotte Zarb, Jimmy Mcgarrie, James Dadd and Lewis Hodgson. Having only played a handful of shows in Melbourne and Sydney, Snakes releasetheir debut album ‘The Snakes’ by The Snakes on Anti Fade this March. Recorded and mixed by the infamous Bully Gardner (selector and trendsetter) The Snakes provide the new soundtrack for the depraved and twisted. Real sicko shit. Casual bangers include Snakes Bday, Solid Income and Pop Song that fit in with the likes of your Richard Hells, your Gun Clubs and your Electric Eelses. Our take: Debut vinyl from this Australian punk band. While some bands I’ve been hearing from Australia lately have been de-punking their image and sound, this isn’t true of the Snakes. They look like complete mutants on the back cover and the music is suitably aggressive and in your face while still keeping the catchiness that makes us pay attention when labels like Anti-Fade and Aarght! put out something new. They catchy keyboard lines are straight out of circa ’79 Fall, but the music is a little more rock n roll, a little more street, and less intellectual. At their most menacing the Snakes can recall the Screamers, but there’s also something undeniably Australia circa now about it. If you crave a little more grit with your contemporary Australian post-punk, I suspect this will do you nicely.
