These Arms Are Snakes - "Easter" (Jade Tree Records, 2006) [key tracks: Horse Girls, Perpetual Bris]

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"Praise be Thomas for fingering the wound, because if he had his doubts then perhaps we should we should too..."

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There are 2 types of rewards... inside rewards and outside rewards. Inside rewards have to do with integrity, outside rewards have to do with reputation. When you are in a profession like health care, ministry, or education you have to be ready to internalize all of your rewards. And it gets frustrating, because you do so much good and rarely get recognized for it. Those who seek recognition, to turn inside rewards into outside ones, often do so at the sake of their integrity. So to those of you who quietly toil away, building integrity and missing out on recognition, here's to you...

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Carl's Favorite Songs - #49 - You've Got Another Thing Comin' by Judas Priest

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These Arms Are Snakes is a dangerous band. Dangerous because they are flying so far below the radar. Even fan-generated-content sites like Wikipedia and My Space are somewhat devoid of any real information on this hard touring, interesting band. Even their label is somewhat unknown. Yet they are incredibly talented, very clever, tremendously structured, remarkably tight, and disarmingly simple. They play a very subversive genre of music called post-hardcore (the word post is used to denote music that is inspired by a genre, but is given a modern, mature, and unidentifiable twist). The music is at times soul crushingly heavy, yet isn't in the metal or punk tone. The lyrics have a lot of feeling, but do not stray into emo. And some tracks sound like straight "alternative," for a while. Solo structure and lyrical delivery often fly in the face of all popular music forms hold dear. Similar acts are Fugazi, At the Drive In, Shudder to Think, and The Blood Brothers, but they sound like none of these.

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I wasn't always a fan of TAAS. The first EP had a great cover (a gloomy blond tied up and gagged by Christmas lights), but the music only hinted at how far they would come before there first LP. "Easter," their second LP, is a theme album of sorts, dealing with the notions and emotions represented by the Easter holiday... while some of the music on the first LP ("Oxeneers...") was throbbing head-bobbing jams, its the lyrics on "Easter" that work the head. They challenge your perception of renewal, redemption, and religion. This band could break loose of their obscurity and strangle rock radio, finally edging Tool out the "new Floyd" niche, or simply fade away, leaving a catalog of amazing music behind for future gem hunters to discover.

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And check out that beautiful vinyl, even their packaging is wonderful. Check 'em out. Happy early "Easter" and horns up.

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