Music / Sub Pop
Review: Hot Snakes, Thekla
It’s Saturday night in the belly of Thekla and the anticipation for Sub Pop punks Hot Snakes is palpable. Riding a wave of classic album reissues and the announcement of their first studio record in fourteen years Jericho Sirens – it’s got all the makings of something very special.
The show starts as the San Diego bunch tear into a track from the new album Death Camp Fantasy. It’s a tantalising teaser of the record to come later in the year. This band have never been ones to chop and change their formula, it’s always been down the line and straight forward. This track doesn’t divert their ship off-course either, and it’s welcomed with open arms by their all-adoring fans.
The first serious scenes of chaos come with the arrival of their legendary and lauded track 10th Planet. It’s clear that they are loving every moment back in the limelight. A glance around the packed room suggests a lot of younger people have just discovered them for the first time – and the beautiful racket they pour out very much has the zest, energy and spirit of a band much younger than themselves.
is needed now More than ever
Beyond this point it feels introductions have been made – any doubts that could have possibly surrounded their fully-fledged return have been thrown overboard. This in-tow also means that the crowd are circling and swaying by the time they kick into other frantic tracks like This Mystic Decade which of course hears the crowd roar back “will finish here!”. The emotion behind each song is absolutely gut wrenching. There’s no room for messing around. At one point a fan jumps on the stage and is promptly shoved off by guitarist John Reis. For a moment it feels like a slightly venomous encounter but then it’s all smiles straight after.
Hot Snakes ultimately proved that they’re still just as relevant as they were around their emergence and they’re flying the flag of legendary label Sub Pop mightily high right now. Rest assured their new album Jericho Sirens will be at the top of my shopping list by the time it rolls around in a few months. On a night of high-profile sold out gigs including Mogwai, Hot Snakes certainly did not leave you with regrets.
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