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These Arms Are Snakes

Oxeneers or The Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go
Home (2004)
Jade Tree Records

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Contributed by: ZDP
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on September 24th 2004

The majority of the music world was initially exposed to These Arms Are Snakes with the release of their debut EP This Is Meant To Hurt You last year on Jade Tree. That EP, while showing potential, saw the band endlessly compared to an array of their peers, (Namely Jupiter-era Cave In and The Blood Brothers). With the release of this album, TAAS not only successfully move away from such comparisons, but they finally are able to release an album that defines its own style.

"The Shit Sisters" surprises the listener at first, starting off with an almost tuneless drum pattern that continues for about 20 seconds before the guitar comes in. Next, a rumble of bass sounds, and TAAS hits the track running. Fans of a large overall bass sound will be more than pleased, as Brian Cook's distorted bass provides a solid backbone for the intricate guitar lines to lay upon. The organs are used liberally throughout this album, as opposed to the limited appearances they made on This Is Meant To Hurt You. They compliment the vocals and other instruments quite well, and add to the overall thickness of the band's sound.

One thing that has not changed since the EP is these boys' total love for reverb. Both the aforementioned "Shit Sisters" as well as several tracks on the album let the guitars and vocals echo in and out of each other, painting broad audio landscapes.

The only place this album really falters is when the tracks drag on for too long, and when that happens, TAAS seems to fall into a trap of almost pointless electronic noodling. This happens primarily on the mostly instrumental "Gadget Arms" and the organ track "Tracing" which doesn't seem to serve any real purpose either, as it fails to really connect to the next song.

Such errors are forgivable though, as this is only their first attempt at a full length album. The extreme potential of this band just bleeds from every track on this CD, and could quite possibly find a place in the CD collection of all types of music fans. From the near cock rock of "Big News" to the a capella section of "Greetings from the Great North Woods", TAAS have crafted an album that defies genre names and boundaries, and would not be out of place on peoples' top albums of 2004 list.

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Anonymous (December 28, 2004)

I feel bad that I JUST got into TAAS. This album is great.

ElVaquero (October 19, 2004)

It's late october and I still give a shit about this album.

soulbleed (September 29, 2004)

but i do agree that people need to stop saying 'album of the year' to every fucking cd that comes out. i mean, damn, have some self-respect and enough intelligence to realize you won't give two shits about this album come december.

soulbleed (September 29, 2004)

the poster below me is kinda funny. but ah, i like this band. and no i'm not a scenester/fanboi. it's one of those unexplainable things .. i guess kinda like why i like joan of arc. it's just one of those things that just is.

prankish (September 28, 2004)

The site, like my profile here, is several years old. I am the first to openly confess my sins as a recovering scenester, and admittance is the first step to recovery.

I was elitist, pretentious, snobby, and a trend slut. I hopped on the bandwagons as quickly as I could. Hell, it wasn't until I had to listen to bands as horrible as TAAS that I realized it wasn't worth it.

Anonymous (September 28, 2004)

prankish should not talk considering that extremly ridculous website he has with an array of camwhore photos

Anonymous (September 28, 2004)

Saw them play with converge at the ottobar on sunday. They were amazing.

prankish (September 28, 2004)

I saw them open for Against Me! in Seattle, and that only further turned me off from them.

boldredletters (September 28, 2004)

scott-

see them live.

Anonymous (September 27, 2004)

They were great when I saw them live, a bit crazy, but great.

prankish (September 27, 2004)

Buying this album gave me enough experience points to become a level 32 scene wizard. I now have access to the "restrictive pants" spell.

This band makes me cry until I vomit. They battle Himsa for title of "most over rated fashion whore piece of shit band in America".

Anonymous (September 27, 2004)

i didnt like it as much as the person reviewing it, but i definitely think its a great record. and a good review

SilentStorms (September 25, 2004)

I haven't heard this album yet, but I expect big things after their split with Harkonen. That shit seriously ate ma face.

Anonymous (September 25, 2004)

do you think he'd be better at doing what i do best?

kenjamin (September 25, 2004)

I saw them open for HWM last year and the singer conked himself in the head while swinging the mic around! Hilarious. they were pretty awesome though. I guess that was right after losing their guitar player. Missed them last night though.

Anonymous (September 25, 2004)

ALBUM OF THE YEAR hands down

elliot (September 25, 2004)

this band is a class act. they kicked my ass when i saw them last week, and the new album is fresh. totally hawt.

hey_sailor (September 25, 2004)

Roy has members from Killsadie and Botch...

pwfanatic (September 25, 2004)

this album is awesome.

kenjamin (September 24, 2004)

besides minus the bear, what other bands has Botch spawned?

hey_sailor (September 24, 2004)

Every band that spawned from Botch's ashes is amazing and TAAS is no exception...first heard them when they were opening for Blood Brothers and they knocked everyone on their ass.

tahoejeff (September 24, 2004)

What if their arms REALLY were snakes??? That would be weird.

Anonymous (September 24, 2004)

Hey, I think they are posting loads of reviews so that the 'anal' comment on the tsunami bomb review wont be on the front page

maverick (September 24, 2004)

The two words that come to mind with this band are "cold" and "mechanical." I just can't get into them at all, no matter how hard I've tried.

-Scott