Hymen 763 CD by SNOG Follow

Hymen 763 CD review

just when you thought contemporary music had nothing new and exciting to offer here come snog to save the day!!! after almost forty live dates around the usa, europe, russia and australia in 2006 snog return to the recording studio in 2007 (unlike the romans of which they sing) victorious. ‘the last days of rome’ - is it leonard cohen (with its perversely apocalyptic lyric and delivery) or is it public enemy (with its slinky hip-hop beat and grinding guitar motif)? or is it even a male version of goldfrapp, concerning moody electro-psychedelica? well, what it really is, is something completely new! sliding between genres like they slip between hot-tubs ‘the last days of rome’ is dark, powerful and totally catchy, a sleek meaningful beast. produced by the calculators (the faint, adalita and many others) and featuring the sweet voice of mr. royce doherty, the collapse of civilization has never been this groovy before! the album opens with the epic majesty of 'one grain of sand', an ode to the pyramid builders of ancient egypt and an excellent place to begin our journey. our title track follows with its grinding beats and tumultuous slave-galley motifs. the third track on the album 'lost at sea' tells the quaint tale of a group of reckless pirates who jettison their map overboard and find themselves perilously close to the rocks. will they survive ...or will that hungry maiden the ocean devour them? again any fevered imaginings of a comparison to current events would be the height of foolishness. track four 'it's all lies' bears no connection to today's responsible global citizens known as the mass media conglomerates, instead it is a parable told from the point of view of a roman centurion who witnesses the dust of an enemy infantry approach but dare not believe the end is nigh. 'city' does not carp on about contemporary urban alienation and disenfranchisement but actually tells the heroic story of those visionaries who built the great middle ages city of london out of the most picturesque pre-loved timber available and cluttered its streets with refuse in a bold attempt to kick-start what is today known as urban renewal. and so it goes. other highlights include the heartfelt metropolitan psalm 'christmas everyday' and the tender down-under nursery rhyme 'go to sleep (little australia).' all these pieces are skilfully presented in the agitated and rhythmic manner that today's youth find so attractive yet they are also carefully crafted so as to never actually say anything at all thus avoiding any needlessly dangerous or uncomfortable moments. adding to the celebratory atmosphere is an extrordinary down tempo remix by uk electro legend sir real, followed by four acoustic tunes snog are well-known for since 'travel sickness', and finished with 'a nation at war', a true conclusion to an album like this by a band like this.