HOT SNAKES
Thunder Down Under
Swami Records
· Recorded live in May 2005 at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for Triple J radio two months before the San Diego group disbanded.
There’s something painfully missing on the Hot Snakes’ live album, Thunder Down Under, and it’s the thunder. It’s likely a limitation of the live recording experience, but why even credit bassist Gar Wood and drummer Mario Rubalcaba in the liner notes? They attended the session, but you can’t properly hear them.
Guitarists as deft and menacing as John Reis and Rick Froberg – who dazzle with chugging and slice ’n’ dice interplays – need a bottom-end quake. A low grumble from the rhythm section convinces the jock that you’re not just some skinny math nerd. It proves that you have "the crazy" to back up those skinny fists waving in the air.
Thunder may be thin on low-end oomph, but it is still an opportunity to gawk at the legendary Reis and Froberg, who still has the best snottily juvenile vocals of all time. The duo has a long history of creating records that land in the essential-listening category starting with bands Pitchfork (1985-1990), then Drive Like Jehu (1990-1995). Reis continued to slug out bruisers in Rocket From the Crypt (1989-2005), while Froberg sounded like he was allowing all of his angst build up for the Snakes (1999-2005).
When they broke up, the Hot Snakes were only four explosive releases old -– three LPs and an EP that stands as the final John Peel session. All were heavily smeared with blood, sweat and other bodily fluids. Fittingly, Thunder gives 13 reasons (including two new songs) to revisit the Snakes’ previous discography – containing some of the most hook-laden, frenetic and robust post-punk temper tantrums ever. As the last release we’ll see from the Snakes, it’s just too bad that Thunder doesn’t sound as panoramic as the studio material that knocked so many music snobs flat on their asses.
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