Steve Snere is a punk rocker. He sings in a band called These Arms Are Snakes and unleashes his fury through the mic every night he’s onstage.
But he hates snakes.
“I’m f—ing horrified of snakes,” Snere said. “That’s my No. 1 rule – anyone tries to bring snakes around me, I’m f—ing leaving. Just thinking about arm snakes, man, it’s disgusting. I’m f—ing horrified of them.”
Despite having perhaps the most not-punk rock fear of all time, Snere and the rest of his Seattle-based outfit will bring their aggressive take on rock music to The Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington tonight.
While they might sound angry, Snere is not too keen on any one label being applied to his band. Many critics have described TAAS as post-hardcore, but he doesn’t think it fits the band.
“Instead of screamo, it’s yello, because I don’t scream,” Snere said. “I feel like people take things out of context really easily. It doesn’t bother us; it’s just frustrating. What I think our vision of what we are is completely different than what people write about us. It’s not like I expect anything, either. I don’t expect anything from anybody. Most of what is said about us is pretty inaccurate. We’re just a rock band, pretty much.”
And there’s nothing wrong with that. The band is on its first tour of the United States in two years, supporting the October-released Tail Swallower and Dove, the band’s third full-length. The album is the follow-up to the critically well-received Easter, released in 2006.
“We were a lot more prepared this time” going into the studio, Snere said. “The previous record, we spent more time in the studio and didn’t have as many songs. A little more time and a little more focused [this time around], I guess. The last [record], we just took a bunch of mushrooms and we recorded an eight-minute jam track and shit like that. We knew what we wanted, and we did it” for Dove.
Dove was not the only thing TAAS did last year, however. The band likes to stay busy and released three split records in 2008, in addition to recording material for future such collaborations.
“I hate having that long period of an LP, and then two years later another LP,” Snere said. “I just want to get some output. I appreciate bands that put out seven inches and stuff. I’m more of the collector of the group. It’s cool to have just a bunch of releases, but for people who like the band, they’re cool things to have.”
Despite admitting to being followed by a black cloud (“It’s just bad luck”), the 7-year-old band is doing its best to remain enthusiastic on the road.
“It’s been a really slow f—ing build for us,” Snere said. “It’s nice to see people are seeing it’s not just f—ing post-hardcore like it’s written in every review. There’s a lot more meat to what we’re doing than, like, we’re a rip-off Dischord band or something. There’s a lot more to it.”
“What’s inspiring to me right now is to prove mother f—ers wrong,” Snere added. “And continue doing what we’re doing and be the best we can be at it.”
Although the band didn’t have it easy on the way up, that never slowed down a show. When TAAS plays tonight, the band promises to bring its all.
“[We have earned fans by] just working our f—ing asses off,” Snere said. “We’ve toured f—ing millions of months and played f—ing the Jackpot Saloon in Lawrence, Kansas, seven million times. I was 14 years old when I started touring. Whatever we do have, we’re really grateful for. I’m not saying we have a lot, but we’re very appreciative.
“We try to take the hard road intentionally,” he added. “I don’t want people to feel like we’re betraying them. I want to make sure our fans know we’re not gonna go on Warped Tour or some f—ing shit like that.”
These Arms Are Snakes plays at the Rock and Roll Hotel tonight. Doors are at 7:30 p.m. and tickets cost $12.
rhiggins@umd.edu
