[Self-Released]

Snake Oil is a mysterious outfit consisting of ten members from the north eastern region of America (NY/CT/MA).  At least some of these people have done time in Connecticut bands Titles & The Weigh Down. Instrumental psychedelic-pop. Breezy guitars. A little funk.  At times it gets to feeling like some jazzy improv, but I can definitely see how it could be reproduced live.  They then can reel it in rather quickly.  Railroad driving drum beats with walking bass lines and floating guitar parts and occasional improvisations.  Is this the same Snake Oil that did a track on the 3xCD “Gold Leaf Branches” compilation (which included folks I would easily call contemporaries like Charalambides, Marissa Nadler, Six Organs of Admittance…) back in 2005 on Digitalis?  The mystery may never be solved.

“I Was A Total Pyro” is the soundtrack to walking down deserted streets in the industrial part of town on a hot summer day, wearing corduroys & kicking every piece of scrap metal that crosses your path. The mellow pacing and electronics used on,”Jung Greezy” transport me to a space ship where I’ve woken up and realized I was an alien, but everything is going to be okay cause I’m not alone. These sondgs are great because they make you feel warm and fuzzy.  Do you remember loving the music on the Muppet Babies?  I do.  What if Neil Young did the soundtrack and they were often in space (or y’ know, pretending really vividly)?

The record was released today officially. Its mysteriousness is built upon by the minimalist packaging with a night and day front and back cover with just the band name in the bottom corner and on the side of the sleeve (really, that’s it, nothing else).  Inside you’ll find a download code (which will be helpful for identifying song titles).  There is also a sticker with a scanner code (for use on your portable communication smart device – we live in the future). 

Curmudgeon is a new 3-piece hardcore punk band from Boston, MA that

rests comfortably in both the realms of crust and power violence.

Their singer, Krystina is a CT native that most notably did time as

the vocalist for Ripshit. In April, she put out the new Curmudgeon

material entitled, “Human Ouroboros” as a cassette on her label: We

Rise Records.

This tape features eight songs that average about a minute in length.

The songs have a similar pattern, sludgy, slow-headbanging part into

blast beats. I dig it. The vocals are yelled in a way that you can

actually make out what is being said, which is a refreshing change in

a sub-genre where you often have to question whether what’s being

screamed and what’s written on the lyrics sheet are the same thing.

The entire demo is streaming on the bandcamp page linked here:

<p>&amp;lt;a href=”http://curmudgeon.bandcamp.com/album/human-ouroboros-tape”&amp;gt;Human Ouroboros Tape by Curmudgeon&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;</p>

Cold Snap, from central CT, plays left-of-center, slow, noise-rock influenced hardcore. They sound like Unsane. You want to bang your head, but you can’t. Ben’s my dude (on bass). Jack (vocals) will punch you or get punched. Mario (guitar) lost mad weight; he’s a sexy Portuguese fellow. Al D. (drums) is of many bands (Pale Horse, Brass Caskets) and screen prints (Shop Shogun). They have a long ex-members roster, but it wasn’t until this line-up that they finally hit their stride.

When asked about their sound, Ben had this to say, “I’m trying to sound as twinkle-free as possible.”  We like that idea because the opposite sounds like Phish and I don’t think Phish and hardcore mix.

Here’s a clip of them playing live:

They are playing the Converge show that we posted about previous to this so there is a nice way to check them out live soon (though tickets for that will be all but gone – something like 30 left).  

The image posted at the top is the cover art from their 7″ released by Hot Air Press in 2009.  Be on the lookout for a split 7″ with another CT band (that Al D. also drums for) in the near future.  They also have a 7″ coming out on Get Young Records out of MA.  Sounds from that first 7″ are here:

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://coldsnap.bandcamp.com/album/godspeed”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;godspeed by cold snap&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

F.F.T. is heavy, stoney, & aggressive. Dudes have fangs. Howl at the moon. They’ve got two drummers. How did they find 2 drummers?  Most can’t find 1! Easily compared to the Melvins. You like The Body, Lightning Bolt, and other loud Providence bands?  You can definitely hear the regional influence in that corner of the Earth. They’re productive. They got a new 7″ out they released themselves. It’s called “Hounds”. It’s hand numbered, limited to 300 copies, comes with a patch, download card and a zine insert (detailed review over at Wailing City). We’ve got the 7″ here now! And they’ve got a full length release on the horizon. They gig often. They put on shows in New London. Danny (Screaming Duties) volunteers at The Telegraph, cause he keeps it real.  His vocals are flavored with some fuzz and distance.  Live, the distance is about 1 millimeter from your face. Taste the flavor in your molars!

This is the patch you get with the 7″ – it’s a picture of Danny holdin’ it down and guess what?  Yep, that’s the CT State Quarter Redscroll shirt he’s wearing:

(That goblet is probably full of blood.)

Hounds by Ferocious F*cking Teeth
 

FFT is playing with Gods and Queens, Cold Snap (CT), and Red Blade at Cherry Street Station here in Wallingford next Sunday, May 15th.  Get familiar with these boys and then come out and witness their mandibular force.