Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Spotlight: Snake Oil

Spotlight: Snake Oil
[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). 



Snake Oil is playing (woah, will they wear masks?) a release show for this record with Atrina and DJ Shaki on June 17th at Cafe 9.  ||Facebook Event Page||

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