EP REVIEW: skeletons – snake eyes

As 2020 rolls on near to the end of the year, the search for more sounds and styles continues as people experiment with what music they can create. Genre blending, production tweaking, chord and song structure changes; a lot goes into music-making. For the Hastings “grit pop” trio, SNAKE EYES, combining the sounds of punk, grunge, and indie for their EP, skeletons, is a unique way to make their mark within the music world and show what they can do to change things up. So, does this EP help the band stand out and get people to listen in?

In some ways, this EP is a mixed bag, to say the least. Songs like don’t worry and wishbone are fantastic punk tracks, both very energetic and lively. Both tracks are the highlights of the EP, showing the simple instrumentation, mixed with the energetic vocals and fiery lyrics to create fun punk songs. These two songs encompass bands like BAD RELIGION and THE OFFSPRING, that style of punk, and SNAKE EYES do this style justice. Another positive attribute to this EP is the bass guitar work, courtesy of Nicole Gill. The work that goes into the riffs to add body to the songs, the techniques that are on display within all of the tracks; there is some serious skill on display throughout this EP from Nicole and when the bass is heard, it’s always a delight to hear and jam on.

There are unfortunately a number of issues with this EP. Firstly, the other tracks, listen, skeletons, and bugged out, are bland and pretty boring to listen to. listen, aside from the brilliant bass line, as mentioned before, the instrumentation is on the bland side and it feels like the song could be used as background music in a TV show where the audience wouldn’t need to pay attention to the song. That attribute is always disappointing. The same is said for skeletons, whilst there are strong NIRVANA and MILK TEETH grunge vibes, the instrumentation is on the bland and bare side once again. bugged out is better slightly, but still feels sluggish. The song tries to emulate RADIOHEAD and whilst the chorus is fantastic, the verses are left wanting more. 

The worst offender, however, is the production. Sometimes having a lo-fi feel to it can be interesting on one or two tracks, especially within the punk or grunge style, but in all five tracks? It feels like overkill to have this effect throughout all of the songs and the sound is mushed together so it’s difficult to hear the different layers of music. Not impossible, but it is difficult. 

Overall, this is an okay EP, not the best from this year, and there is something promising within SNAKE EYES. However, it’s obvious there’s a lot of work with this trio. It’s worth watching this band to see what they do next, see what they change and improve, but for their first foot out of the gate, it’s not a bad first step. 

Rating: 6/10

skeletons is out now via Failure By Design.

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