Tuesday Tunes / Hot Snakes Are Back
One of my favorite San Diego bands of all time is gearing up to tour again and will be re-releasing their entire discography on Sub Pop. Peep the press release below for a good little background on the band as well as their 2017/2018 tour info and fire up this playlist for the essential sounds.
Press Release:
On Friday, January 19th, 2018, Hot Snakes entire discography -- Automatic Midnight, Suicide Invoice, and Audit in Progress -- will be reissued on CD / LP / CS / DL worldwide through Sub Pop. The first pressing of the LP reissues of these albums will be on colored vinyl (Automatic Midnight on orange, Suicide Invoice on yellow, and Audit in Progress on pink) and each album will come with its own, new set of 6 stickers designed by the band’s Rick Froberg. And January 19th will be the first time any of these albums have been available on cassette.
These influential post-hardcore all-stars – boasting members of Pitchfork, Rocket From the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, Earthless, Obits, Burning Brides, OFF!, The Delta 72, and more –released three of our favorite rock records of the past 20 years: Automatic Midnight in 2000, Suicide Invoice in 2002 and Audit in Progress in 2004. And now, finally, they’re ours! As we await the somewhat-later-in-2018 release of their first new album since 2004, please make these Sub Pop reissues yours…
Automatic Midnight, Hot Snakes’ first studio album, originally came out in 2000. Both the band and the album began as a side project for John Reis in June 1999, during time off from his main band Rocket From the Crypt. Reis wrote and recorded a batch of songs in San Diego with Delta 72 drummer Jason Kourkounis. To provide vocals for the tracks Reis called in Rick Froberg, whom he had played with in Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu from 1986 to 1995. Most of the material from these sessions was used to create Automatic Midnight, which became the first release for Reis' newly formed Swami Records label. The band’s sound represented a return to the unrealized past of its members: direct, undraped and rock ‘n’ roll while still maintaining the dense and turbulent character of the members’ previous work. In April or May of 2000, Hot Snakes added bassist Gar Wood, found their live sound and established themselves as primo, down-stroke warlords.
Suicide Invoice, their second album, was originally released in 2002. It was recorded at San Diego’s Drag Racist Studios in 2002 with engineer Ben Moore. The album exhibits Hot Snakes’ slightly larger palate in mood and dissonance. People enjoyed the shows and listening to the recorded music. But, strain from controversy and fame would reveal cracks in the seemingly impenetrable hide of Hot Snakes. A year after the album’s release, drummer Jason Kourkounis left to focus on other music.
Audit in Progress is their third studio album, originally released in 2004. The band recorded the album with new drummer Mario Rubalcaba at San Diego’s Big Fish Recording with engineer Ben Moore. An increased attraction to dissonance surfaced on Audit in Progress. The album was well-received by critics and fans and was named "best punk album" at the 2005 San Diego Music Awards. More shows were played and enjoyed and the band visited many cities all over the world. By 2005, the band spiraled into a mid-life punk crisis and stopped performing.
Lucky for all of us here in the present, Hot Snakes are charging back, renewed, recording new music and playing shows with both drummers, and planning for the release of a new album in 2018 on Sub Pop Records.
Automatic Midnight, Suicide Invoice, and Audit in Progressare now available for preorder in the following formats [preorder here]:
- CD digipack with custom dust sleeve
- LP in a single-pocket jacket with custom dust sleeve and new sticker sheet
- Cassette
- Digital
An updated Hot Snakes T-shirt design will also be available.
Hot Snakes have added new UK headlining dates to their 2017/18 international tour schedule. These UK dates begin January 25th, 2018 in Manchester at Gorilla and end February 3rd, 2018 in Bristol at Thekla. The tour includes stops in London, Leeds, Glasgow, Brighton, Nottingham, Newcastle, and Cambridge. Tickets on sale to general public today at 3pm GMT.
Hot Snakes’ previously announced U.S. shows begin tomorrow night, November 8th, 2017 in Long Beach at Alex’s Bar and run through November 18th, 2017 in Philadelphia at Underground Arts.
For up to date ticket information, please visit http://hotsnakes.shofetti.com.
Nov. 08 - Long Beach, CA - Alex’s Bar [Sold Out]
Nov. 09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour [Sold Out]
Nov. 10 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel [Sold Out]
Nov. 11- Portland, OR - Star Theatre [Sold Out]
Nov. 12 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey [Sold Out]
Nov. 15 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
Nov. 16 - Brooklyn, NY - Bell House [Sold Out]
Nov. 17 - Boston, MA - Middle East - Boston
Nov. 18 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts
Jan. 25 - Manchester, UK - Gorilla
Jan. 26 - Glasgow, UK - Broadcast
Jan. 27 - Newcastle, UK - The Cluny
Jan. 28 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
Jan. 30 - Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms
Jan. 31 - Cambridge, UK - The Portland
Feb. 01 - Brighton, UK - Sticky Mikes
Feb. 02 - London, UK - The Dome
Feb. 03 - Bristol, UK - Thekla (Early Show)
More on Hot Snakes by Swami John Reis here.
