Hot Snakes - Suicide Invoice

There are a handful of records that I started writing about months or even years ago but I just can't find anything interesting to say about (although some might say that hasn't stopped me before). A lot of them are perfectly good records by really great bands that I get a lot of enjoyment from. I think everyone would agree that Hot Snakes are an incredible band who have released four almost equally brilliant albums (three when I started writing this). I've seen them a bunch of times now and always have an excellent time. They're also all in a load of other really good bands and collectively release consistently great music. I've already run out of positive adjectives.

So what else is there to say? If I had to pick a favourite Hot Snakes album I'd probably have to say Audit in Progress, but that's because it was the first one I bought and it had two years extra listening over this one. Also I've never had mp3s of this album, so haven't really been able to give it the time it deserves. That said, if you were to quiz me on which album any given Hot Snake song belonged to (bar a couple of big hitters) I'd really struggle - that's because they've released remarkably consistently good albums; their sound hasn't changed dramatically, and that's a good thing.

There are a few of the aforementioned "big hitters" here - I Hate the Kids, XOX, LAX and the title-track have always been memorable and fun live. I bought this record for a bargain $12 in Arrow's Aim Records in Florida; it still has the sticker on the sleeve. There's not even an interesting reason for keeping it there.

There you have it. This record is much more enjoyable than I can make it sound and I apologise for the bad job I've done convincing you so.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 12
Cost: £8.40 new
Bought: Arrow's Aim, Gainesville
When: 04/11/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Smith Street Band - Don't Fuck With Our Dreams

The first time I saw The Smith Street Band was at Fest 12. I'd been introduced to them by the song Young Drunk on their second album, and listened to the first two albums a lot at my desk before seeing them that autumn in Gainesville. They'd just released this 10" EP, but I hadn't listened to it before the show. They were playing the huge Florida Theatre on the Sunday night and the place was busy; people were very excited about seeing them and I was about to find out why. They played brilliantly and the crowd loved them; like a few sets I've seen at Fest, it's almost ruined the band for me as their live shows in other places haven't been quite as well-received, which is almost a shame - I wish everybody at other shows would go as mad as they did that night.

That night, they played the title-track from this EP, Don't Fuck With Our Dreams. They introduced it with a story about how a friend used the phrase after being mindlessly beaten up - it was a strange but brilliant response to such a situation, and I liked that before the song even started. That single song represented a change in their song-writing to me. From the first listen, and on record, it is at least ten times more epic than anything they'd released beforehand. The song was longer, had more parts to it and did so much with its time. It starts off sounding a bit like another punk song about touring (and writing songs about touring - meta) but then builds into something huge. I have a lot of time for that song. The highs are huge and the build-up in-between is brilliantly fast-paced and frantic.

I then had high hopes for their third album, Throw Me in the River, but found few moments that even stood close to Don't Fuck With Our Dreams. Their most-recent album, More Scared of You Than You Are of Me was such a great listen because they found whatever it was that made Don't Fuck With Our Dreams so incredible and took that to even higher levels throughout the album. I'll write about in due course, but the first song on this EP was the clue that they had incredible, next-level song-writing in them and I'm so, so pleased for them that they made a record that reflected it.

Anyway, I didn't buy this EP that night because I wanted to get a copy of Sunshine and Technology and was running out of cash. Luckily, the following the spring they were touring the UK so I had a chance to see them again (and, even luckier, they were playing with Restorations, a band I'd fallen in love with at Fest and was very excited to see again). I saw that tour in the Fighting Cocks in Kingston - I'd just moved to Oxford but happily travelled back to London to see it. I bought the first Smith Street album that night, along with this copy of the EP, featuring the screen-printed, tour version of the cover. I think that was also the night I lost my wallet on the bus home.

The other four songs are strong too - any of them would have fit perfectly on either of the two albums that proceeded the EP. The transition into Ducks Fly Together is seamless and Bigger Than Us has a hint of epic about it. Overall it's a good EP, but Don't Fuck With Our Dreams is what makes it memorable and an essential addition.

Format: 10", screen-printed sleeve
Tracks: 5
Cost: £10 new
Bought: Gig
When: 22/04/14
Colour: Purple
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code