| Artist: |
Hot Snakes |
| Title: |
"Automatic Midnight" |
| Label: |
Sympathy for the Record Industry/Swami Recordings
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| Reviewed by: |
Bushman |
| Rating: |
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San Diego super-group (it's rare to put those words together) Hot Snakes have
released the second coming of early 90's Southern California indie-rock.
Name-dropping credentials of the members give an insightful look into not
only the personality, but the sound of Hot Snakes. Most recognizable is
Rocket From the Crypt's John Reis who joins ex-Drive Like Jehu alumni Eric
"Rick" Froberg. Tanner's Gar Wood has his fingers in this production-wise
and I'm still unclear if he's actually in the Hot Snakes or what, but I heard
he was playing with them at a recent show at the Casbah in San Diego. The
result is the Hot Snakes throwing down track after track of the
characteristically dry tin manic strum of guitars, pounded with the repeated
stiff down strokes and moving progressions that made the aforementioned
units, legends before their prime (all have long since disbanded, except for
the sporadically active RFTC). If you are familiar with this bands resume,
Hot Snakes should rock you out expectedly because this fits so perfectly in
there between a long lost Jehu record and the Tanner album you never heard.
Not a lot of melody as most songs hit you, and smack you again right away
without much room to get pretty. Good. Guitars sounding like their strings
are about ready to snap from the pounding and string bending. Vocals mostly
sound like they are coming from Gar Woods insistent yell, but there are a
couple of John Reis fronted numbers as well. The marching drum snap and
rapid strumming effect of, "Salton City" is one of the more interesting
dynamics of this disk. No easy hooks or attempts at a radio single so indie
rock purists should have another slice of credible San Diego rock to add to
their library. Not to sure how long this "project" will be around, so get it
now and catch a show or two so you be as cool as all those scenesters
spouting the merits of Drive Like Jehu and Tanner from "back in the day,"
because the day is now and the band is Hot Snakes.
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