Snakes - Sometime Soon

  by Daniel Cressey

published: 11 / 9 / 2010

---

Although they hail from the UK, The Snakes’ sound is purely American and their country style contain all the elements required for a solid album. Strangely though, given their name, the Snakes lack bite. A deep-throated attempt at sleaziness on ‘Jesus in a Box’ comes across more as a humorous impression than real lascivious threat. And when their lead singer, Simon Moor, sings about “Waking up on another street/On another side of town/I can’t remember how I got here” it is curiously devoid of any emotion. It might be another side of town, the there’s probably a Waitrose round the corner. The Snakes basically seem far too nice to engage with the classic country themes of drinking, woman-trouble and any kind of pain. It all makes for a very slick piece of Americana, but one that is ultimately somewhat un-engaging. They do try to push things on certain tracks, but there in the absence of fire some of the poignancy can veer over into cliché. ‘Refrigerator Blues’ gives us, “I’ve been up/I’ve been down/I’ve been around.” And ‘Promised Land’ yields “Show me the way to the promised land, I’ll put my destiny in your hands.” Pulling off lyrics like this can be done, but it takes a lot of chutzpah, something this band for all their talent is short on. 'Sometime Soon' – the title apparently an oft-quoted response to questions about when the album would appear – is technically accomplished and very much a pleasant listen. It ticks all the country-rock boxes, but somehow that doesn’t quite seem enough to pull you in deeper than the surface.

Track Listing:-

1 Interview
2 What Have I Done To You?
3 Refrigerator Blues
4 Promised Land
5 Wasting Time
6 Cumberland Breeze
7 We Can Fly
8 Jesus In A Box
9 Tin Foil Town
10 Come My Way
11 Amaretto
12 Black Cat
13 C O

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson

Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart

Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Nige Nudds
Philamonjaro
Richard Lewis
Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steev Burgess
Steve Kinrade

Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg