Formed in 2020, snake eyes are a Brighton trio who in their short existence have undertaken a co-headline tour with James and the Cold Gun, and have enjoyed support runs for Gender Roles, Delta Sleep, Sick Joy, Bad Nerves and UK album chart toppers Don Broco. They have a brand new five track EP `health` released this month.
This extended play opens with the grinding punky slightly grungy `no one is truly cool` a song, according to the band about “respect for yourself and others, or rather, a lack of it, in a time when most people are living their lives through their phones, it’s important to remember that nobody is cool all the time.” A melodic track with lyrics that seemed to be shared fairly ironically and a pretty captivating introduction for me to this band. Mental health issues these days, thankfully, are less of a taboo subject and ‘crybaby’ is a quite hypnotic fairly `Britpop` tinged number around accepting yourself and the mental health catharsis that music can offer to those who are struggling.
`medicine` is a three-minute slice of grungy lo-fi and had all the power, rage and passion of the early offerings from bands like Nirvana. At times it felt as if there was a sense of anxiety about this submission. In ’40 winks’ we have a kind of anthem for everyone who is plagued with insomnia. There`s a kind of frustration shared in not only the lyrical content but in the music itself as it chugs along. There`s a sense of dissatisfaction or exasperation with not only your own situation but life and world events in general, which seen to stem from but not totally down to a lack of sleep.
This five tracker closes out with `nothing better` a real slow burn seemingly about unrequited love amongst other things. It begins fairly stripped back with a rhythmic guitar riff and vocals and acquires a shook tambourine and complementary backing vocals along it`s short existence.
snake eyes have been described as having an indie-punk leaning sound that’s bursting with melody, lo-fi charm, and wry humour and I have to say that`s a pretty fair assessment. The `health` EP is full of catchy numbers with appealing grungy riffs that become brief `ear worms`.
Indeed, the band have devised a phrase that sums us their sound as “grit pop” which is pretty apt.
After listening to the `health` EP, snake eyes are definitely one to watch out for.
Rating 8.5 / 10
