>>PREVIEW
THE DEADLY SNAKES
Saturday, October 29
The Hifi Club
On the cover of The Deadly Snakes’ fourth album, a pink and red painting of a pig turns its snout up to whoever takes the time to look. The paint is thick and heavy, almost abstract in its depiction. The title is Porcella, a word with which most people will be unfamiliar, a word that may hint at something related to pigs, but gives nothing away.
"It’s a Roman law from sometime around the 15th century, I think," says
Max McCabe-Lokos, who goes by the name Age of Danger in his role as the Snakes’ keyboard player. "It legitimized pork butchery. I came across it in a food encyclopedia. Before then, there was no charcuterie culture. There were no sausages or anything like that. So, around the 15th century, the Romans thought (pork) was a good, edible, lean meat, so they passed this law, porcella.
"It doesn’t really exist anymore. I asked an Italian guy what it would mean if it meant anything now. He said porcella would just mean pig-ette or something.
The painting on the cover is the work of Andre Ethier, who plays guitar and shares singing duties with McCabe-Lokos. On Porcella, many of the songs weave tales of excess and indulgence. On the opening song, "Debt Collector," Ethier tells a cautionary tale that would do Nick Cave proud. Eleven songs later, on "The Banquet," McCabe-Lokos sings about the desperate romance of living to excess for a short period rather than being fated to a long, dull existence. The songs drip with images of meat and blood, hearts and flesh.
Recorded over 10 days at a cabin far away from the distractions of Toronto, Porcella is the end product of the Snakes allowing themselves to work really hard and then relax completely.
"It was a great way to record, up at the cabin," explains Ethier. "Everyone was sleeping in the same room, then we’d come downstairs and have a big breakfast, record all day and have a good dinner and get wasted. It was great. It was really intense. The entire weekend was about food and music."
During the recording the Snakes allowed the instrumentation to be fleshed out more than ever before. Melotron, toy piano and violin are all present, and the band stretched as musicians. Drummer Andrew Gunn really hits his stride on Porcella. Trumpeter Matt Carlson co-wrote some of the album’s – and perhaps the band’s – best songs, "Gore Veil" and "Oh Lord, My Heart!" With a discography as strong as that of The Deadly Snakes, it’s tough to top what’s come before, but Porcella is abundant with hooks and flourishes that serve the songs, making it a ripe and revelatory listening experience.
"Baroque is a negative term," Ethier says, "because it tends to mean that whatever’s added is superfluous, but we were adding a lot of things. Sgt. Pepper is Beatles baroque and I don’t think it’s better than Revolver, it just has a lot more shit dumped on it."
From the outset, the Snakes – rounded out by bassist Chad Ross and saxophone player Jeremi Madsen – paid more attention to songwriting than cultivating an image that jives with current trends. They look and sound like guys who spend their time seeking out and listening to all kinds of music. And while lyrics have always been an important element in the band’s alchemy, Porcella is one of the most literate records around right now.
"I usually write songs in my head, with a kind of rhythm," says McCabe-Lokos. "It helps to have lyrics before and an idea of what the song will sound like. I really think in rhythm and I had no instruments when I was on vacation. I was reading a lot, so I’d think, ‘That’s a good Faulkner line! I’ll take that.’"
McCabe-Lokos fears this makes him sound pretentious and angsty, although it just makes him seem like someone who takes pride in his craft and who appreciates quality in the work of others.
Not simply well-versed in literature, Ethier says the band spent the time they weren’t watching decadent films by Pier Palo Passolini. The effect of Passolini on the imagery and tone of Porcella may be more than coincidental. Late in the controversial Italian filmmaker’s career, he made a film called Porcile. The tagline: "I killed my father, I ate human flesh, and I quiver with joy." |
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