After some 5 years in the making, the world can be prepared for a low-fi fuzz-fuelled, high-octane, apocalyptic album, Cash Rich, and I bloody love it. Released on Alcopop! Records.
Even though it’s taken time to get this album to the point of release, it’s not been for the lack of material. Snake Eyes wanted to wait till they’d built a fan base who are ready to receive the album with open arms.
Drummer, Thomas Lisle Coe Brooker explains,
“we’ve been slowly curating the album since releasing the skeletons ep in lockdown, with tracks being dropped and added over the years until it felt good, it really is a body of work that represents the first 5 years of our band. personally, I wanted to tour as much as we could and feel like we had an audience that actually wanted an album, rather than just releasing something that might fall on deaf ears.”
The album is a product of genuine creative obsession. There is a clear “gear-nerd” sensibility at play here, with a meticulous focus on the specific guitars, amps, and pedals required to achieve their signature sound. The result is a sonic landscape defined by lo-fi fuzz interwoven with heavy distortion and drive. Snake Eyes successfully cover every base as the album stomps and soars through its 12-song tracklist.
The dynamic range is impressive. Amidst the heavy drive and sheer intensity of tracks like “Jar Full of Wasps” and “Hug Me,” the band finds space for a more mellow, acoustic-led approach on songs such as “Slug” and “Robot Boy.” Even for those who don’t typically count themselves as fans of the lo-fi aesthetic, the sheer quality of the songwriting makes Cash Riot impossible to ignore.
Snake Eyes are soon to be out on tour, kicking off in Glasgow in March. I, for one, can’t wait to watch them, and after listening to this, I’ve picked up a couple of tickets to watch them in Manchester.