Customer Reviews

Easter

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the first time I saw These Arms Are Snakes open for the Blood Brothers right before the release of their first ep, I was hooked. Easter totally kills it, and is much better than their first full length Oxeneers (and I loved that one too). This release is less dancey and more like the ep This is meant to hurt you. This thing is worth buying for the the song "Child Chicken Play" alone. This band deserves to be huge. Maybe if they got stupid haircuts and changed their name to These arms are Disco and sold their soul to FUSE they would be, but whatever, I'll just keep spreading the word on how awesome this band is.

Instant gratification. Constantly, people in this country are always trying to find the best ways for instant gratification. Perhaps, this is why our radio stations are filled with mindless pop that chewed up and spit out only to be forgotten. Thankfully, there are still albums like Easter and bands like These Arms Are Snakes. Here is an album that demands you give it a little breathing time like a fine wine. These Arms are Snakes show why patience is considered a virtue.

The first thing you'll notice listening to this entire album is that it doesn't have the catchy song structure of their previous album, Oxeneers or The Lion Sleeps... While Oxeneers showed a band that write catchy songs without comprising intregity, Easter shows a more technical and more balanced side of the band. The band displays an atmospheric feel without taking the whole Isis or Pelican route. Because of this, I would say that the album flows incredibly well.

Sound wise, These Arms are Snakes are the definition of post-hardcore. From the crunchy album opener, Mescaline Eyes, to the audible insanity of Crazy Woman Dirty Train, this band shifts every which way while maintaining a sound all their own. Always a strong suit, the album's production is top notch with everything heard in complete clarity. That credit can go to the band's drummer, Chris Common. The band's intention for Easter was clearly made for a live presence because I must say that I had distinct pleasure to witness this band play most of this album live. The band's energy level mixed with their music just go hand and hand, feeding off each other.

Overall, Easter is much like the holiday, full of vivid textures and emotions. I have always seen TAAS as what At The Drive In would sound like if they experimented (which is a compliment in the highest fashion). I am already curious to see in which direction the band heads next. I totally recommend this for anyone that is a fan of At The Drive In or Bear vs. Shark. My advice is to follow the lyrics to Horse Girl and "Treat like a push pin, push it till' it gets in".

I agree with the other reviwer who said it sounds more like this was meant to hurt you than the oxneers... Since I liked their full length more than their ep I was a bit upset when I first listened to the album. But as time grew on the album really grew on me. This is deffinitly their most mature album and it highlights their talents well. So overall this is a great record just not my style but you should still check it out.

Rising from the ashes of noisy math-rockers Botch and emo upstarts Kill Sadie, Seattle post-hardcore outfit These Arms Are Snakes has worked long and hard to reclaim both their identity and fan base. It hasn't been the easiest of processes; they've changed drummers more than a handful of times and their first album, while full of energy and vitality, was a shambling mess. But what Easter, their second full-length, reveals is that all this hard work hasn't gone to waste.

Easter is an ambitious record, packed tight with energy, aggression and a healthy dose of schizophrenia. Like a Kaiju movie klaxon warning of impending calamity, TAAS howls and screeches with equal parts excitement and foreboding. Steve Snere's surly snarl is in full effect, pouring out his stream of consciousness and boy howdy is it angry. Ryan Fredriksen's guitar screeches through dissonant licks and churns out heavy sludge with ease. The band is tighter than ever before, and it shows.

However, the album isn't without its flaws. The sequence of songs on the album is particularly dreadful. The first three tracks roar with unparalleled rage, building up the tension in an almost unbearable torrent of filth and fury. But the fourth track, "Desert Ghost," is a drum and piano number which is hauntingly melodic, but incredibly out of place. Everyone knows that track four is like the money shot of the album. You can't waste it with a slow burner like that. The poor sequencing breaks up the momentum and halts the album dead in its tracks.

These Arms Are Snakes are like aspiring cooks, working the kinks out of their recipe for hard-edged, cerebral punk rock. Their first EPs were like appetizers, spicy and palatable, but lacking in depth. Their debut was an explosive, but ultimately under-seasoned dish that was hard to swallow. Easter is an ambitious stew of ideas, styles and sounds. It is a fearless experiment that is complex in flavor but somewhat disproportioned and off-balanced. Who knows what the next album (and maybe some lineup solidifying) will bring?

- ALLEN HUANG.

these arms are snakes are without a doubt my favorite rock (just to keep things simple let's just say rock) band in America right now. Easter outdoes the first two albums in a big way, and I liked Oxeneers a lot. their music is unbelievable, you have to really pay attention to these guys or you miss a lot.
I was lucky enough to see them in Columbia, SC about 2 months ago at a club where not more than 40-50 people were (because people there are apparently idiots, i drove 2 hours just for the show) and they absolutely killed. it was one of the best shows I've ever seen, America needs to hear this band...they are the cure for every mainstream, dry, disposable band (i agree with the previous reviewer about the "these arms are 'disco'") that i can think of. please please support these guys, they know exactly what they are doing.

best TAAS full length to date, if you like this even a little bit, get their other releases, AND the split with HARKONEN, Oxeneers is great and the EP is a perfect album...perfect

Since I continue to wait impatiently for their next album, I thought I'd get up off my chair and write an endorsement (finally) for their most recent CD. (Now almost two years old! Guys, you're killing me.) Noisy as hell and surreal, it's actually hard to describe These Arms Are Snakes in a coherent way. They manage to give frustration and entropy and dissatisfaction a sound, and pound it into your ear holes. You may not understand a word of what the singer is shouting, but you understand it anyways, as the music captures the emotion with surprising directness. And the singer needs to shout, as regular singing would be lost in the sonic wash of guitars and the explosive drums - and if you've ever seen them live, you know that already.

But there's subtle things going on here that you figure out after listening to this CD for a while. The most "polished" song on the album is Deer Lodge (as polished as this band gets, which isn't very, and I consider that a positive), which gets a lot of emotional punch from the fact that the vocals and the guitars seem to be warring with each other throughout. At the very end, the vocalist starts to sink beneath the tidal wave of intricate guitar work - shouting isn't enough; you can't shout loud enough to keep from drowning - and you know, it's actually pretty cool. It seems appropriate to the song too.

It's not all shouting and pounding, as Perpetual Bris and Corporeal show off more musical subtleties, but I wouldn't call them slow songs, as they carry a lot of the menace and eeriness that TAAS manage to infuse in just about everything they touch.

Did this sound pretentious? Sorry. But I wanted to write something beyond the usual "this album/band kicks butt". Although I will argue strenuously that they are one of the best bands America has to offer. Strange, aggressive, hard to categorize, These Arms Are Snakes deserve to be a bigger band than they probably ever will be.

I was totally suprised when I listened to this cd. I really like there other ones but this has so much more depth its unreal. Definitely in the constant rotation for the last month. These guys are great at creating their own direction.