Songs For Snakes

Songs For Snakes is a band from San Francisco that gets it right. This is the good stuff! Major echoes of Husker Du, Squirrel Bait, Moving Targets and Jawbreaker emanate from the elpee  Charcoal Heather. The trio, led by Bill Taylor is heavy on the reverb and the songs are concise and bring me back to the mid 80’s- when “alt rock” was defined by this ringing, anthemic sound. I dinnow if ya wanna call it “post hardcore, I just call it Punk Rock.

I don’t know if Taylor plays a Flying V like Mould used to… but the distortion laden guitar is a welcome sound. The bass lines are nice and heavy, sitting on that E string is a beautiful thing. And the drumming is rock steady and forceful … and NOT high end heavy like Grant Hart’s was with the Huskers. Overall, the production is nice and full.

Picks to click: “St. Mary”, “Thorazine Eyes”, “Outdoor Kitty”

You can stream the album here, but support indie music and send a few bucks to a deserving band and buy the darn thing!