SNUFF – 5-4-3-2-1…Perhaps?

Sometimes I’ll hear a band, pick up an album, enjoy it, and plan to dive deeper into their discography but never get the chance. This is the case with Snuff. I own Tweet Tweet My Lovely and fully love the hell out of it. But in the mix of finding new music and sticking with standards, I never checked out their older or newer material.

That’s why I’m stoked to be reviewing  5-4-3-2-1 Perhaps? Musically, I find their sound to be quite interesting and innovative. Mixing heavily drummed punk rock, melodic (yet hard-hitting) guitars, Hammond organ, and a single trombone, Snuff’s sound is extremely distinctive and bold. And then there’s drummer and vocalist Duncan Redmonds’ vocals — perhaps the most noticeable attribute to Snuff’s sound. Some might cringe at his vocal styling, but I find it fits in its own weird way. Unfortunately I was not sent lyrics to this album.

5-4-3-2-1 Perhaps flows much like Tweet Tweet My Lovely did in the sense that there’s a mix material that ranges from straightforward rock to blistering fast tunes. “Mumbo Jumbo” lights up the album with the fastest and hardest tracks, and is backed up by “Rat Run”, a more bouncy (yet solid) tune. The poppy “EFL” comes across with a sound like Madness (“The Sun and The Rain” comes to mind). There are two versions of “In The Stocks” featured on the album, one being the electric version that opens up the album, and the acoustic version that closes the album.

In all, a solid record that flows really well as a whole and only solidifies the fact I really should look into checking out their other albums.

(Fat Wreck Chords, 2196 Palou Ave., San Francisco, CA 94124)