Snuff – Crepuscolo dorato della bruschetta borsetta calzetta cacchetta trombetta lambretta giallo ossido, ooooooh cosi magnifico! LP (SBÄM)

I admit I am a bit late to the party for this one, but better late than never. It’s been a while since Snuff unleashed their new album. I have a long history with this band. It’s been over two decades since I heard them for the first time. At first, my feelings were mixed. However, after a couple of listens to the Demmamussabebonk, I was hooked on their music. Of course, after that, I picked up Potatoes And Melons Wholesale Prices Straight From The Lock-Up, Tweet Tweet My Lovely, Numb Nuts, and their first two recordings, Snuff Said and Reach. Their singalongs, chord progressions, brass section, and rhythmic acrobatics still keep me entertained, even after twenty years of repetitious listening to the beforementioned recordings. Of course, the band released more recordings after Numb Nuts, but that’s where I stopped collecting their stuff. Snuff is, hands down, one of the crucial bands responsible for promoting and keeping melodic punk rock alive in Britain, and they continue to do so to this day.

Their latest full-length reignited my interest in their newer recordings, so from now on, I will have to pay closer attention to their activities. As usual, Snuff not only return with excellent music but with longevous album names as well. This one is called Crepuscolo dorato della bruschetta borsetta calzetta cacchetta trombetta lambretta giallo ossido, ooooooh cosi magnifico, and there’s no way I will remember that. That’s probably why the record label immediately decided to shorten the name to Crepuscolo Dorato in their shop. Snuff has recorded ten new tracks that represent the essence of their sound in the brightest light possible. The band returns with even more harmonious vocal parts, singalongs, ear-appealing chord progressions, catchy riffs, cleverly assembled basslines, and mindblowing drumming maneuvers that will immediately get under your skin. Everything sounds even more anthemic, and you can hear that widely recognizable touch of the classic British punk rock applied to a Californian melodic punk rock base. Also, don’t forget an equally present layer of power-pop choruses, empowered by mindblowing sounds of organ and brass.

I had difficulties picking highlights because the entire Crepuscolo Dorato is acting like one big highlight. There aren’t weak spots here, mainly because Snuff take their songwriting, composing, and producing seriously. The band paid a lot of attention while assembling these compositions, so each song’s structure, arrangement, segment, sequence, and accentuation are in the right place and time. Some tracks sound more abstract than anything by this band I heard before. Those are signs of their evolution as songwriters and musicians. Maybe you will even get the impression each track sounds more complex than anything else they recorded in their previous recordings. Still, you’ll also get the feeling that’s the same old Snuff you dearly loved for decades. Crepuscolo Dorato will beautifully play with your listening apparatus, and you’ll unquestionably place this record among your favorites this year. Head over to SBÄM for more information about ordering.