Labels: self released
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I didn’t have high hopes for this when it fell out of the padded envelope. Take a look at that cover art. Just take a look. A brief look. That’s all you need. But then I gave it a listen. Don’t judge a CD by it’s cover I guess. The opening song “Snake Juice Anthem” is a rather lively piece of indie rock, rough round the edges and bouncing with energy. That got me in the right mood. I prefer the band when they are rocking out but the album has decent slower moments too, a stand out being “Red Shirt” which gets geeky Star Trek references in to lament a failing relationship. The vocals are probably where this will live or die for you though, the singing is generally quite wrought and cracked, I generally like it myself but it does weigh heavy at times, see “Lemon Heart” where the guy sounds like he’s enjoyed a few JD and cokes before stepping up the karaoke mic to do a sad sad country song.
All in all, a pretty solid album. Nothing that will change the face of independent rock music, but 30ish minutes full of self deprecating, down to earth and down in the dumps moments.