Pros: SOLID, often danceable rhythmic work; semi-ironic lyrics that use the negative to plead for the positive.
Cons: I suppose some people might mistake them for snotty hipsters. But those people are just mean.
The Bottom Line: If you think "indie rock" and "catchy" are mutually exclusive terms, then well... there are a lot of bands you should hear. And Snowden's certainly one of 'em.
One of the great joys of being a music junkie is when you discover a band, completely out of nowhere, that nobody you know has ever heard of, and whose performance transfixes you. Now I'm not a scenester or anything; I don't hang out in tightly packed, smoky clubs all the time just hoping to pick up on the latest underground band buzz or whatever. But sometimes I'll track down a show by a band I'm already familiar with in such a venue, and discover a band opening for them or playing after them that captures my attention. This was how I stumbled across the Atlanta-based band Snowden, who was in the middle of a highly energetic set at a small club in the Silverlake neighborhood of L.A. right before The Violet Burning was scheduled to play.
These guys caught my attention almost right away with their tight, quick, and fuzzed out drum-and-bass grooves, frenetically nervous guitars, ironic and detached vocals, and the fact that they had a female bass player who did double duty on keyboards. (Not that the gender of a band member makes any difference in sound if they're not the vocalist, but it's also not something you see every day in an otherwise male band with a male lead singer.) Not knowing much about indie rock except for the fact that it was usually a lot more downbeat than this, I struggled to come up with comparisons as I watched this curious, frenetic band whose name I didn't even know yet. The drummer could create a quick-fingered and full rhythm that definitely reminded me of early U2. The guitarist had a droning, reverb-drenched sound like Sigur Ros played at four times their usual speed. The keyboardist would throw some little computer blips and programmed rhythms in there from time to time, creating a danceable feel that seemed way too joyous for the dour subject matter, but which was charming for that very reason. (I don't even know what bands to compare that too.) The intentionally flat, slightly apathetic affectations put on by the lead singer reminded me of Cake, but less smarmy. (And there's no attempt to do the white-boy hip-hop thing here, either.) It was a good blurring of rock influences from the 80's and 90's, and even on the quieter songs, they'd get whipped into a frenzy near the end. Whoever these guys were, they actually put on a slightly better performance than the band I had actually come to see that night (they weren't touring with The Violet Burning, but the two bands' sounds complemented each other nicely), and I figured I'd need to check 'em out on the Internet later.
So I started with their MySpace, which contained 3 or 4 songs by which I could sample their studio sound, which may have not been as intense as it was in a live setting, but which definitely maintained the strong sense of rhythm and groove, and brought more of the enigmatic lyrics to light. That led me to the most logical place to start - the band's only full album, amusingly titled Anti-Anti. You just know a band's being a bit cheeky with a title like that. While a lot of the album blurred together at first due to the amount of upbeat, danceable material (usually, when albums blur together in my mind, it's because the bulk of the songs are too slow!), each song eventually developed its own nervous sense of character, and I found that it was difficult to keep it out of the car CD player. Despite lyrics that sometimes venture into woe-is-me-ville, Snowden has proven to be a good pick-me-up, with music and lyrics that occasionally seem to satirize a music scene that would have them slow down and be more depressing and less catchy. They're not trying to be a happy band by any means. But something about the defiance they show is quite joyous. That's what makes Anti-Anti a memorable record - in clumsier hands, it could easily degenerate into superfluous layers of noise piled on without a sense of purpose. It's a noisy record at times, but the noise serves the rhythm instead of wandering off into a pretentious haze.
Like Bullets You are god and goddess of sex and stress
Wasted on organization in excess
And you got lost in a cycle of no progress
Just rinse, repeat, remind and forget...
The album wastes no time getting going with this awkward dance - Chandler Rentz hammers out a catchy "Bum-bum-bum-bum-BAP bum-bum-BAP!" while Corrinne Lee's fat bassline pops right out at you, and vocalist Jordan Jeffares joins not long after that, his lyrics placed meticulously behind the beat - or is it in front of the beat? It's one of those rhythms where it's steady and consistent, yet hard to tell where the count of "1" would be - attempts to do so are rendered more futile by a chorus which states "We can walk like bullets and talk like bullets", which is just impossible to get the timing right on when you're trying to sing along, no matter how many times you've heard it. It's an unsettling effect, made more eerie by the distant, wriggling guitar solo in the song's middle eight. Something about it seems to barely hold together, yet the pops and snaps of the rhythm section are always there to guide you right up to the slicing stop that transitions into the next track.
Anti-Anti I can't cut a rug without my fashion drugs
Inebriation leads revelation...
You'd expect a song with this title to be some sort of snotty punk anthem, but this one's as danceable as they come, eschewing a main guitar hook in favor of Jordan's sing-songy little intro, which conspires with the quick cymbal work and handclaps to get you on your feet, even if no one knows what the hell they're dancing for. A song that is "anti" would perhaps mourn the loss of innocence and rage against the establishment, but a song that is "anti-anti" instead mourns the loss of an opinion. You've grown jaded with the counter-culture, so now you're counter-counter culture and you're tired of protesting stuff, do you just numb yourself and dance to the beat. That seems to basically be what's going on here, and I think it's kind of a clever send-up of an apathetic sub-subculture. "Getting down in a town that makes no sound" in the mantra here, and Jordan defiantly tells us, "You say there's something wrong, but I don't hear it." These two lines actually get repeated a bit near the end, but they change the chords up, the bass does this fuzzy bump-bump-bump effect, and the song goes out stomping its feet and throwing a tantrum until finally breathing a breath of relief at the end.
My Murmuring Darling This wasn't supposed to be a test of will or years of patience
But when you opened your mouth, and still nothing came out
I was speechless...
A quieter sea of guitars comes floating in to announce the record's first ballad - I wasn't much for the ballads at first since I enjoyed the songs that were more rhythmically forceful, but since they only take up a third of the album, each ballad stands out and there are no nondescript slow songs. David Payne actually does a wonderful job with the guitar textures here, cutting and swooping in and out of the song with solemn grace as Chandler does a soft drum roll to keep things moving. It's gentle but still carries a lot of momentum, if that makes any sense. Jordan's lead vocal sounds a bit pained but distant here as he sings about a girl who is maddeningly quiet, thinking that maybe he's done something wrong, but she won't give him a clue what it was. Despite some hackneyed lyrical moments ("It was in the pill I am swallowing still 'cause I messed up", for example), it's a well-constructed lament with the melody line turning at uncomfortable angles here and then just to keep things from being too pristine.
Filler Is Wasted This place gets in my eyes, my clothes, my nose
I try to hear your voice through the drone, but I don't
It's been this way for some time, the shoe don't fit, but I still try
Will I ever catch myself in my own lie?
This was the first Snowden song that I ever heard - the bumping bass, syncopated drums, and jingling tambourine caught my ears immediately as I entered the club on that September evening, and though it was the type of venue where you watch more so than dancing or moshing, I could see a little booty-shaking going on to this relaxed, fun groove. I'm not sure what this one's about - it probably has to do with a definition of "filler" that I don't understand, because to a music reviewer, "filler" is a so-so song put on an album to fill space, and by definition that's always a waste, so why point it out? Must be some other meaning. Here, Jordan's mostly complaining (with a funny, slightly whiny way of drawing out words at the end of certain lines) about a girl who seems to have it all together, who he's a sucker for in the most co-dependent way - "You're not lost, you're not lonely, perhaps that's why you own me." It's pathetic in a cute sort of way. The song loses a little steam as it goes, not having much of a well-defined guitar riff to ride atop the fun bass groove, so as it reaches its end near the five-minute mark, it's easy to feel like maybe they could have tightened this one up a bit.
Black Eyes Walked into the concourse
At the end of the tunnel were my dim lit saviors
All raucous and full of glam
But not the kind that I left uptown...
Wow, now there's a sweet rhythm. Chandler comes out with industrial strength force, expertly filling in all of the sixteenth-beats with his complex series of thumps and cymbal/hi-hat taps - listen to U2's Larry Mullen on a song like "Wire" and that's a good comparison. Except here, it's a little more like 90's U2 due to Corrinne's little programmed keyboard blips giving it more of a techno-rock feel. The bass and guitar give the song enough fuzz to take it out of U2 territory, though - I've heard electronic rock hybrids like this before, but few have sounded so raw and mesmerizing. Jordan has apparently followed a girl into a concert or a rave or something, looking for some sort of meaning in her "black eyes", but realizing he's just encountering another facet of that empty "anti-anti" culture - "You were hiding nothing at all." Actually, I can't tell if he means that she was being totally honest and transparent with him, or she was just a one-dimensional character with nothing interesting about herself to reveal. Either way, he gets swept up in the quick, furious sea of movement as he protests, "Don't want to sing it now! Don't want to shake, shake, shake!" Awesome song. You just have to hear it to know what I mean.
Between the Rent and Me You were standing outside of the lines
You were just swinging like a dime
You were something of a charity
And I wanted you to give some to me...
This song was my early favorite on the album before "Black Eyes" took over. Something about the detached echoing of the catchy guitar line got to me, like a loose marble rattling around in my head. It's definitely one of the most melodically catchy tracks on the album, conspiring with another round of quick, complex drumming, but mixing in some easy-going handclaps, basically bringing together the best of "Black Eyes" and "Anti-Anti" for a total sad sack dance party. They way that the melody ascends when he sings, "Now when I walk in the room, you know it's all I can do, to stare at the floor and not to look at you" is perhaps one of the album's most memorable hooks. Structurally the song is a bit repetitive, but it's all in the way he tells this girl off for treating him like his nothing, and how he tosses off his sarcastic little "Hey, hey, oh-oh-oh!"s at her. I'm not sure whether it was him or her who was "Standing at the bus stop, getting high", so I'll just let that odd line slide.
Counterfeit Rules You've seen them on TV
With their bombs and their death rays
And they tell you the only thing to fear
Is that devil and his gay plague...
I love how the drums just have so much character on this album. In many rock songs, the guitar and vocals get to define the mood, but the drums kick in with a furious, claustrophobic shuffle, making you feel like you're in a mosh pit getting pushed back and forth uncontrollably. Jordan's lyrics fly baby at a similarly alarming rate as David's guitar does this relentless, jackhammer riff that cycles through the song's unorthodox chord progression. This time he seems to be pleading with someone, trying to free them from a system of "counterfeit rules" held up by a majority who enforces them without explaining them. It could be taken as anti-establishment or even anti-religion - probably the point on the album where Snowden comes closest to being political - but that's open to interpretation. What I like is that Jordan seems to be emphasizing trust and reason, rather than a "do-as-I-say-just-because-I-say-so" moral code that controls people by way of fear of the unknown.
Innocent Heathen She doesn't mind to take her clothes off
She missed the Garden of Eden
And now the devil is your best friend
The lake of fire feels like cool wind...
OK, we're definitely teasing at religious metaphors with this one. The soft bumping of the drums and the ghostly background vocals going "Oooh-oooh-oooh", offering the only melodic reference point at the beginning, give the song a sort of "wasteland" feel, perhaps identifying with a person who is an outcast as far as the establishment is concerned, a heathen who they see as being beyond help. There's not much hope offered to her situation, just a quick character study of who she is - floating free without any sort of moral tether, letting people believe she's in cahoots with the devil if that's what they want to believe, even though she herself probably doesn't even believe in such an entity as the devil. The empathy is expressed in the soft and thoughtful musical approach - it seems to mourn her sense of not belonging in an eerie fashion.
Stop Your Bleeding A girl in a window in Soho
I'm a beggar underneath that you won't know
A princess in a window in Soho
But the prince comes to the window and it's closed...
Another lyrical gaffe unfortunately starts this one off ("Well, I don't have a symphony, but I'll lick your heart with my fingers"? Whatever, dudes.), but if you look past that, this one's another scorching dance track in the vein of "Black Eyes". Structurally it's not as sound since the verses seem to do a lot of aimless tension-building before reaching the two-line chorus, but that does mean that we get a lot of lyrics flying about in this metallic space, most of which I can't make heads or tails of. Figuring out the chorus - "Stop your bleeding, you said no leaving" - would be the key, but I don't know whether he's trying to stop someone's bleeding (i.e. save them from a wound that someone has caused them), or ordering them to stop their bleeding (i.e. telling them to stop being so needy). The whole thing goes by in a flurry and Jordan sounds a bit crazed as he's coming back around to the chorus. I like the sound of it, but the structure makes it easy for me to lose my place in terms of whether we're coming up to that chorus or just more rambling.
Kill the Power I had a dream that the house was on fire
And you were the only one in it
I had a dream that the house was on fire
And I was the one who started it...
The album's shortest track is a chunky little rocker with a disco-inflected beat to it, and a little bit of guitar feedback just to get your attention. I kind of like that blend of extremely catchy and slightly demented, so this one wins me over despite a few moments that hurt the eardrums. (Hey, The Fiery Furnaces do far more dastardly things with otherwise catchy songs, so I can handle it.) This one seems to be one of those "defy the crowd" type songs - Jordan seems to want to work his way through the traditions carried out by rote and the mindless routines, and throw the switch, forcing people to detach from their electronic bliss and find something more unexpected and meaningful to think about. It gets a bit creepy near the end where he talks about a house being on fire with someone in it, and the chorus changes from "Kill the power" to "All hail the goddess", but then the lights get punched out and it's over, before even reaching the three-minute mark.
Victim Card The temptations, the sin, if we lay down, they will win
We are all that stands...
I think this one's the best of the ballads on the album. It made for one hell of a show closer, since it starts out very solemn and becomes more dense and furious near the end (though moreso in concert than on the album). The opening with the simple, distant guitar strum in 3/4 time sounds so peaceful, but once the lead guitar gets going, it kind of wanders through, slurring over in-between notes as if refusing to define an exact hook for the song, yet still more or less following the melody. Jordan's verses are close to being a monotone chant, except for a word he draws out here and there, lamenting how a person refuses to take action and better their own lives because it's easier to hold someone else in contempt and pass the blame - as he puts it, "Playing the victim caa-aa-aard." He seems to be saying in the third verse of the song that everyone across the country appears to be doing this, which gives a sad sense that nothing's ever gonna change, and that offers an emotional impetus for the downpour of clattering drums and thick guitar haze that finish off the song. It's not so much loud as it is dense, but it works really well.
Sisters You never knew one could plant a seed
In the frozen ground from across the street
I am here to bring you peace...
The weakest moment on the album might be its closing track - which isn't bad, I like hearing what happens when a mostly electric band goes acoustic. The main problem here is that almost complete detachment from the rhythm section, which is this band's biggest strength. The song feels like it's a coda to "Victim Card", since it maintains roughly the same tempo and the 3/4 time signature. The song is comprised of skeletal acoustic guitar strumming, a tiny bit of tambourine, and another ghostly "Aaahhh..." following the chord progression in the background - that's pretty much it. Jordan seems to be giving a benediction when he says, "So peace be with you sisters", but it actually turns out to be a bit of brotherly advice, as he wants them to not end up in cold, unfeeling, bitter relationships like some of the ones he's described earlier in the album. The key to it is a willingness to break through the apathetic façade, and he explains this by illustrating what will happen if that wall is never breached - "So many ways to break a man, but one is not to touch him at all." This is the thought that the band leaves us with as the song slows down and sputters out. So sad to end on that note, but it's an apt observation.
So yeah, this band isn't all smiles, but I think that the way they play could elicit some smiles, or at least a few sneaky grins. Anti-Anti is perhaps best enjoyed by those who know what it's like to be jaded, but can see the problem with staying there and never doing anything about it. That's what this record is about to me, anyway - "Here's what happens if you just stop caring, so get off your butt and do something about it." Just because those who used to protest have now become hypocritical scenesters doesn't mean that they were wrong to ever protest in the first place. You just can't get so bogged down in what you're mad at that you don't know how to shake it off and celebrate the good stuff once in a while. I could continue philosophizing about the meaning here, but I think that's sufficient to describe what I get out of Snowden's music. They're a solid band that deserves some more exposure, so check out the songs on their MySpace if this sort of thing interests you at all.
ALBUM WORTH:
Like Bullets $1
Anti-Anti $1.50
My Murmuring Darling $1.50
Filler Is Wasted $1
Black Eyes $2
Between the Rent and Me $1.50
Counterfeit Rules $1
Innocent Heathen $1
Stop Your Bleeding $1
Kill the Power $1
Victim Card $1.50
Sisters $1 TOTAL: $15
Band Members:
Jordan Jeffares: Guitars, Keys, Vocals
David Payne: Guitar
Corinne Lee: Bass, Keys, Vocals
Chandler Rentz: Drums, Vocals
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