Sneinton sometimes have that guitar sound that tires me out. You know the one. TWIDDLE TWIDDLE TWIDDLE TWIDDLE. It’s all the rage, and it makes me feel old. I don’t need to hear someone play guitar like that. Fortunately Sneinton have what a lot of their twiddlemo contemporaries lack: good taste in music. That means that their songs aren’t basically pop punk made by people who can actually play their instruments. Indeed, Sneinton are bold enough that you get something like the delightfully laboured “Jackson” finding it’s way in there, all 1990s post-hardcore brooding and contemplation as it slowly nudges back and forth. I kind of think this song was a sneaky recording, when the Kinsella obsessed guitarist popped out for a piss, the rest of the band thought “fuck this fun shit for a lark, lets do a dark one”. Actually, that’s not strictly true because “Return of the Return of the Loop Digga” also fits into that bracket. So I guess that guy was taking a dump. “Loop Digga” is my favourite track on here, a real slow burner that hints more towards something like Boys Life than a bastardisation of Cap’n Jazz. Maybe one day, more bands will want to sound like this. I wish. “Big Trev” is my favourite upbeat effort on here and a really good example of playing this style without sounding like every other mother fucker out there, tightening things up and focusing more on the groove – something I’d recommend to any band really. I should note that throughout this tape the vocals are a high point, a good mix or boyish singing and a more spoken style here and there.
So this is a bit of a mix of things. There’s the twiddle fest, and there’s the stuff I dig. If you’re a fan of both branches of the indiemo Tree (get over it) then this tape will be like a surprise birthday present for you. If you just like one or the other, then there’s still plenty on here to perk your interest.
Please note that no bros high fived during the making of this gang vocal free tape.