Silver City, New Mexico-based underground rock group, TombSnakes, will release its debut EP, No Graves, on Friday, March 18 via Blank City Records.
Born during the Great Quarantine on 16 acres of harsh desert land and featuring members of True Widow, The Saint James Society, Form & Fate, and Vigilantics, TombSnakes packs a punch harder than ice picks and stilettos, with sounds borne of environments that exist beyond the pale of decent society - motels, roadside bars, sun-drenched small towns, places for outcasts. The No Graves EP is available for pre-order here.
The EP opener, "Concrete", is available for streaming below.
Says the band: "'Concrete' is two and a half minutes of sludgy punk rock riffs and post-hardcore energy with a vocal delivery reminiscent of Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto. There’s an abrasive guitar solo, punchy rhythms and lots of energy in sneering aggression. Put another way: It kicks ass."
"'Concrete’ is about that feelin’ of being locked in the city, and pushed in a corner," says TombSnakes vocalist Rafael Vigilantics. "We tried to write a song that felt like the moment when the scales tip from being brutalized by civilization to seeing anything as a weapon to free us from it; our voices, our instruments, our knuckles, shovels.”
"At the height of the pandemic, a small group of friends comprised of members from the Saint James Society, Vigilantics, Form & Fate and True Widow were shacked up together in Silver City, New Mexico, trying to make the best of lockdown," says TombSnakes bassist Brandon Burkart. "One day, we received a care package in the mail from Billy Gould of Faith No More. He has a company named YEBIGA that makes and imports a spirit called rakija, which is native to Eastern Europe. Later that day, while we're sitting around a table shooting dice and bullshitting, Nicole Estill from True Widow got a text that Riley Gale of Power Trip had passed away. He and Nicole were old Dallas friends. Each of us had actually been at the very last Power Trip show in Dallas before the shutdown. It was a fucking tragedy to get that news, even for those of us that didn't know him, personally. Naturally, we put on a Power Trip record and just drank and raged and headbanged and screamed. We got primitive out there. After crushing the better part of two bottles of Yebiga, [Power Trip's] 'If Not Us Then Who' came on where the lyric is 'If not now than when, if not us, then who?' In our drunken stomp, we took that literally, pulled out some instruments and wrote this track 'Two Shakes.' Sonically, we made no attempt to sound like any other band, but ethically we wanted to just get busy right then and there. I think that's translated in the urgency and immediacy of 'Two Shakes.' It felt like we had to write that song exactly when we did."
In addition to multi-instrumentalist Burkart, TombSnakes features poet/vocalist Raf Vigilantics, and guitarist Antonio Matta. The gang descended on a small recording studio in the Mimbres Valley and emerged having created one of the most honest, knuckle dragging, street punk records in some time. TombSnakes' debut EP, No Graves, is full of howling mantras and knife jab guitar riffs. The sound of TombSnakes is a rugged blend of punk, rock n roll, concrete, and psychedelic violence featuring bold notes of disdain and fear with a rowdy finish that is perfect for any real party. This is music for the sleepless; for those who feel something stirring in them, who long for fellowship and something real in the new America. Above being driving, vengeful, and dangerous, this record is just plain fuckin' fun. Pairs well with sex and street fights.
Tracklisting:
"Concrete"
"Two Shakes"
"Pulling Teeth"
"No Graves"
"Numbers"
"Two Shakes" video:
