Snuff - Numb Nuts (Cover Artwork)
Staff Review

Snuff

Numb Nuts (2000)

Fat Wreck Chords


Numb nuts, eh? I must admit, that's what *I* got after listening to this CD. Snuff are, for no reason I can figure out, very popular in England (kinda like Hi-Standard in Japan), and are selling their fair share of records stateside, too (with the help of the erstwhile Fat Mike, undoubtedly). They're on Fat Wreck, so they're bound to have the NOFX "influence" (meaning they try to write almost every song as if it were a NOFX B-side), but I was surprised at the amount of Leatherface I heard in the first few songs. I like Leatherface, as should any self-respecting punk rocker. Snuff's first few tracks kept my attention, with the singer trying desperately to sound like Frankie Stubbs (which I think just cannot be done). Then the ska-punk kicks in. It's not ska-punk like Less Than Jake or anything, but it's more like a VERY bad version of Slapstick or Against All Authority (meaning they try to be "punk rock" with horns). This just drags the album down incredibly. I would've MUCH rather listened to a Leatherface clone than a NOFX w/horns clone. I thought the English were better than this. Don't get me wrong, there are currently some great English punk bands (with Consumed and Goober Patrol currently topping my list), but Snuff isn't and shouldn't ever be one of them. And don't get me wrong, I DO like Fat Wreck, even though most of my recent reviews (No Use For A Name, Hi-Standard) don't show it -- I just like to hear a dose of originality with my Fat punk. Overall, Snuff has potential to become a good punk band (their singer does have a really cool voice), but I don't think they'll use it, since they've been doing the same thing for as long as I have heard their stuff, and it sells records.
[taken from A different kind of greatness webzine]