Snuff: That's Fine 7" (1991)

Snuff's second album proper, Reach, disappointed some people (this author included) both for not being as hard-hitting as the Snuff Said But L.P. and for being a lot less fun then the Flibbiddydibbiddydob E.P. The first half of the album, which, honestly, I thought looked too cheap to be a 'real album' back in 1992, does have some kick-ass songs ("I Know What You Want", "Spend, Spend, Spend") but it starts getting a bit blurry on side two. Of course, in all fairness side two kick's off with a Hammond organ-fulled song that's almost all hook ("That's Fine" are the sole words in the song). In what would become a major component Snuff's catalog, the 7" of "That's Fine" contains a wonderful cover of a Japanese song (I'm told it's sort of like a Japanese equivalent of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider') called "Den Den". It's a shame to have kept the song relegated to B-side status, as it sure would've livened up Reach.

A That's Fine
B1 Den Den
B2 What Kind Of Love? (live, 1990)



So is Reach a weaker Snuff album or did I just miss something? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the link for the That's Fine 7".)

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Snuff: Live at Kilburn National (1990)

So, I saw Snuff (more HERE) in 1990 when they played at the Royal Albert Arms on a triple bill with Samiam and Nine Pound Hammer. It was a packed, if slightly odd, triple bill and every band had stellar night. It remains likely the best triple bill I've witnessed. Nine Pound Hammer were the odd ones out (Snuff and Samiam being pop-punk touring partners) and while they have since fallen into some disrepute due to the emergence of the more gimmicky Nashville Pussy, they were a shit-kicking live band. Samiam were the subtlest band of the night but their set was taut as hell and watching guitarist James Brogan play those spidery guitar lines was hypnotizing. (Brogan was also in the highly-underrated SoCal hardcore band Social Unrest and when I chatted with him that night he actually remembered that SU's sole show in Winnipeg was at Wellington's, which was only a few doors down from The Albert). Every band punched above their weight but Snuff would get the TKO. That decision would come due to the impressive sight of Redmonds' singing and drumming simultaneously, the band's pitch-perfect sense of humour and they fact that they ran through Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" just so they could say they played a "Winnipeg song".

For more early live Snuff, visit these excellent site: I Vomit 4 U !
no longer forgotten music

So what do you think of Snuff as a live band? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the link for the Live at Kilburn National LP.)

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Snuff: Caught in Session (1989-1994)

Here's chance to look at two different version of Snuff (more HERE). The first, and possibly best, incarnation of the band is heard on their sole Peel Session, which previews their amazing 1989 debut album (Snuff Said But...). It's a blinding min-set (six tracks!) that shows they could pull this lightning fast pop thing off in any setting. As well here we're introduced by what is perhaps the key Snuff trope, the brutal thrashing of ultra-lightweight pop. Maybe Peely thought they were covering Tommy James and The Shondells but if you've followed Duncan Redmonds' career long enough, you'd know he was giving a tip of the sticks to Tiffany. (As a bonus you get to hear a fun 1994 BBC session from the reformed Snuff, full of hooky n' zany hi-jinks!)




Peel Session - 30th Jan '89
Win Some, Lose Some
For Both Sides/I Think We're Alone Now
Another Girl
Now You Don't Remember Me/No-One Home

Evening Session - 21st Dec '94
Instrumental Jingle 1
Funny Faces
Instrumental Jingle 2
Vikings On The Tundra
Jo Whiley Steve Lamacq 1
B
Jo Whiley Steve Lamacq 2
Batten Down The Hatches
Short Jingle


So is the first incarnation of Snuff the best one? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the link for the Caught in Session CD.)

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P.S. These Snuff posts have a Longy list of contributors. Thanks.

Rancid: On a Night Like This (2011)

Well we discussed the relentlessness of Berkley punk band Rancid before (see HERE) and I've just now been alerted by punknews that the latest entry in the band's Live in the Living Room series is a pretty faithful version of "On a Night Like This" from Bob Dylan's 1974 album, Planet Waves.

Turns out the band's been doing the song live for almost a year, as evidenced by this grittier live version from 2010 with Flea from The Red Hot Chilli Pepper guesting.

OFFICIAL SITE

Snuff: Not Listening (1989)

I spent most of '88 with my head back in '77. Sure there was good new shit in that time but the overwhelming tone of the times was a downer. Pop-metal and synth-pop ruled the airwaves and speed-metal and jangle-pop owned the underground. Regardless of your feelings for those underground genres (personally, distaste for the former, appreciation for the latter) they seemed like products of a punk rock divorce, wherein one party got the speed and the aggression and the other side got the hooks and the smarts.


But 1989, speed, aggression, hooks and smarts regrouped, in little pockets around the world. In that year we had a phalanx of under-produced but ass-kicking American 7" and 12"'s by Jawbreaker, Mr. T Experience, Sloppy Seconds, Operation Ivy, Screeching Weasel, Bad Religion and Green Day plus stellar album albums by Canada's The Doughboys, Australia's The Hard-Ons as well as the Britain's pop-punk trifecta: Mega City Four, Leatherface and Snuff.



While there is a modest-sized group of bands with drummers who do part-time lead vocals, like The Doughboys, Snuff's Duncan Redmonds' plays the front-man from the backseat all the time. Such a skill puts Redmonds in a rare class of full-time lead-singing drummers, including the aforementioned Hard-Ons and later-period Genesis. While Keish de Silva was eventually replaced in The Hard-Ons and Phil Collins had to bring in Bill Buford for help, Redmonds stands alone with his near-superhuman ability be able to drum so frenetically and still sing just fine.



The first Snuff e.p. from 1989, which definitely caused a stir in North America, defined the band''s sound, melodic yelling, frantic drumming, blaring guitars and lyrics that dealt in a matters of a personal nature. The band recorded no cover songs for their debut, produced by Mekons leader Jon Langsford, that crucial part of their style would have to wait till the full-length album later that year.


So was Snuff one of the best things to come out of 1989? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the link for the Not Listening e.p.)

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