Snatch the Snail - Full Album
Info: North Carolina surf punk three-piece Snatch the Snail release their fourth album in as many years with their new self-titled recording, with previous album Snailien featuring here last June also. The band retain their lo-fi rock sound which you could loosely compare to the likes of Weezer, early Greenday and Pavement in terms of the light-hearted humour which pervades their lyrics and the laid back and happy go lucky sound.
Starting with 'Destroy the Destroyer', all three band members weigh in with harmonies and set the uplifting tone for the rest of the album with some enjoyable under water guitar effects. Next up is 'STFU' which has an almost ska and reggae sound with it's rhythmic bass lines and hazy lo-fi beat, with drummer Drew Ryan dropping the rhymes in tandem with the music. I quite enjoyed third track 'Pop Culture Porn', an acerbic criticism of the nonsense we're bombarded with on a daily basis from every corner of the media delivered with a humorous brevity.
On 'Finger Trapped' the trio again hit the right notes with some great vocal harmonies, really nice fast-paced guitar picking and a nice breakdown just after the half-way point, like a punk version of The Beatles' 'Dear Prudence' as it reaches it's raucous finale. 'Bryan's Baby's Birthday' is a hard punk, and again reggae mash-up, with Police style bass running through it. We're into full on reggae land on Matisyahu cover, 'Snail Without A Crown', and it's all good, the highlight on the album for me, these guys have definitely been listening to their Marley and Peter Tosh since Snailien, and it perfectly shoots off into rock zones, impossible not to kick out the jams on this one.
Two short tracks bring the album to a close, finishing on the beautifully titled 'Celebrity Escargot'! an almost folky and psychedelic mid 60's sound on display, proving that Snatch the Snail are not afraid to ping off into different genres with each new album. While it can be slightly dizzying as you move between the styles across the albums tracks you have to take your hat off to the fact they are branching out and also continue to make music that is nothing if not an awful lot of fun.
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