I came across Snake a couple of months ago. They aren’t a new band. Their debut album was released four years ago but band members have other interests. Having won the "Rock of the Year" award at the Swedish Indie-awards Manifestgalan they took a natural break which eventually lasted several years.
They are Tess De La Cour (who has a solo project as Memoria), Madeleine Frankie and Mia Maria Johansson, who also has a solo project. Two of them have also taken part in the Riot Grrrl Sessions. This single is the second glimpse of an album which will be released in the autumn of 2020 after ‘Falling’, which was released in February.
In some press shots they are Goths, in others clowns, the weird sort you might find in a Stephen King novel. Pennywise’s girlfriends. They’re eerie, the music is formidably powerful. And it’s nice and simple, in fact as with the previous single I hear much of Memoria’s last tune in it; also another young Swede who’s in the same league - Felin.
Throw Toyah Wilcox and Poly Styrene into that mix, with a hint of early, punky Go-Go’s with a slightly harder edge and you’ve pretty well nailed them. And there’s a guitar chord change that is very Go-Go’s that they’ve come to own and which underpins the entire song.
The spirit of hard diving rock is alive and well in Sweden. A simple riff, a handful of chords, simple beat, simple lyrics. Very effective.