Poison kisses and blistering rock ’n’ roll
The Deadly Snakes play venomous tunes as a salve for our troubled times
THE DEADLY SNAKES
Tuesday, March 5
Shamrock Hotel
Towards the end of a thoughtful conversation with Thrush Hermit's Rob Benvie, Andre St. Claire (vocalist and guitarist for The Deadly Snakes) reached across the table to pass his fellow Canadian musician a matchbook. Five seconds before passing it to Benvie, he had scrawled on the inside flap: "if rock ’n’ roll has to die, it will die in my arms."
That was two years ago, and it doesn’t appear as though anything The Deadly Snakes are involved with is going to die anytime soon. Among the current wave of stylish sensations getting the thumbs up from anyone who knows anything about excellent music, the Snakes are gaining rank. They have racked up numerous mentions on "Best of 2001" lists from gushing critics, celebs and other musicians. How’d they get there? By embodying an incomprehensibly rare soulful inspiration that many bands get on their knees and pray for.
The lavish praise for their records, I'm Not Your Soldier Anymore (2001) and Love Undone (1999), is much more deserved than that heaped on other deliciously stylish bands (i.e. The Strokes). They are indisputably the hot ticket – the stage isn’t just a place of performance to these cats, it's a place where they exorcise ghosts and conjure the spirits of hip-shakin' soul artists past and present.
Now that they’re gaining stride, Max Danger (vocals and organ) says that the band is buckling down in order to take full advantage of their well-deserved hype.
"’Cause if there is a little bit of hype, you gotta jump on it," says Danger. "You can’t sit around. Our booking agent is like, ‘OK, you gotta go out in a month.’ It’s fun, but before, we might’ve just gone, ‘Fuck that, we’ll go in the summertime.’ Like, I gotta pay some bills. But if you can do it for a while, the more you tour, the more money you can make."
And the more records you can make, too. The sort of records that make knees shake, lower lips tremble and hearts flutter. This is only the beginning for the band, who are all only in their early 20s. Their former label-mates, The White Stripes, are two albums old as well, and recently inked a six-digit publishing deal. Given that, it seems like a possibility for the equally fantastic Snakes to be able to make a living pursuing their dream, too (whether they're earning six digits or not).
Now planning their third album, the boys are about to liven up (if that’s possible) their already impressive repertoire with a change in their lineup. The four-member core of the band has remained unchanged since they began – Danger, St. Claire, Matt Dog Carlson (trumpet and harmonica), and Andrew Gunn (skins). However, on this tour, they’re debuting a new bass player (Chad Ross) and will not be performing with vocalist and guitarist Greg Cartwright (formerly of the Oblivians). Cartwright, who produced their debut and joined the Snakes on their second album, will remain in Memphis with his new bride, his kids and his new record store. By planning the next album without him, they’re avoiding the logistical nightmare of collaborating with a member who resides in Tennessee.
"The stuff that we’re doing these days is all written with one guitar and one guitar part. They’re different, there’s a lot of stuff that, to me, sounds like straight-up gospel and New Orleans soul music. But not in this fakery-contrived way of people just yelling ‘Can I get a witness.’ And if we do a gospel-styled song, I wouldn’t be singing about Jesus or God because that’s not what I’m interested in.
"To me, our new stuff sounds like traditional music. We’re writing the songs in a traditional manner – traditional music from New Orleans from the ’50s and ’60s.... I can’t wait to record."
And the fans can’t wait to hear it. With St. Claire’s raised-by-wolves vocals and the spitfire spirit of the rest of the gang, The Deadly Snakes just get deadlier. |
