Originally
published in Skyscraper
Now, it wouldn’t be fair to say that Red
Snapper’s self-titled swansong ends their career with a
whimper, but it’s not the stunning exit I’d have hoped
for either. There’s always been something elegant yet edgy
about the Snapper: after all, “fuck off jazz” was
the label coined expressly to describe their sound. Somewhat appropriately,
the opening instrumental is entitled “Regrettable,”
and it’s the sort of lovely junkpile we’ve come to
expect from the band: horns, bass, live drums and piano all clamoring
together. “Mountains and Valleys doesn’t exactly disappoint
either, but as the album unfolds you realize there’s nothing
really new here; in fact, three of the album’s ten songs
turn out to be a remix and a couple of live versions of earlier
tracks. It’s like the band saw the end in sight and decided
to stroll across the finish line. Even their press release spends
more time detailing what the individual members will be doing
now that they’ve split up, instead of providing any details
about the damn album. Sigh. Furthermore, there are no lyrics on
this disk, so I miss some of the saucy experimental stuff they’d
been doing with vocals on the last couple of disks. Still, stranded
somewhere between trip-hop and acid jazz, Red Snapper will always
occupy a special place in a particularly raw corner of my heart.
Official
label site
Robert Stribley
|
