Over half a year before FC&TRS released their second album they put out a free download of this track on their website. Only a few weeks earlier they’d put the Blossom album and tour to bed and reported they were back in the studio.
I once described Blossom as ‘building block rock’. A nuts and bolts affair where all the parts fit together to make a rock song direct and to the point.
In their second year The Rattlesnakes have grown some layers. Snake Eyes is moody, complex and half way between regular live band punk rock and big production value epic metal.
It begins with the oblique subject matter. ‘Here I lay, My stomach burning, Body in pain while the room keeps turning’ is this a psychotic episode, physical sickness or just a hangover?
There’s the eerie whispering of ‘What did I do last night and will I be ashamed?’ before the same question asked aloud in the lyrics.
‘And I’m locked on my hands and knees, In sweat and tears just begging please, I promise I won’t do this again’. I’m thinking hangover. When I saw Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes play The Brooklyn Bowl in December 2015 Frank said he’d only just taken up drinking and surfed to the bar for a shot of Grey Goose. By the time they played Download he’s written a belter of a song about having a ‘Bastard Behind The Eyes’.
The evolution between Blossom and Modern Ruin is epic. It took a leap forwards with Snake Eyes. I understand why they didn’t want to sit on it until the rest of the album was finished. The brilliance of Modern Ruin has brought them forwards. Helping Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes become one of the most important bands in the UK right now.
Steve For The Deaf 