REVIEW: Snooper Deliver Lightning-Fast Exploration of Isolation in New Album “WORLDWIDE”
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY KYLEE WIENS ☆
Photo Credit: Emily Moses
TWO FRIENDS, A PANDEMIC, A KILLER DEBUT ALBUM—some touring, a live band and a $14 thrifted drum machine may seem like a random collection of images from a DIY indie film; yet, they actually make up the perfect recipe for Snõõper, the egg-punk enigmas currently etching themselves into left-of-center musical greatness. Hailing from Nashville and dripping in all the coolness of a pandemic project gone right, the now-quintet is constantly rewriting and subverting punk conventions. Playful, jittery, and sometimes a little silly, their sound is constantly being stretched into uncharted musical territory. The recent release of their sophomore album Worldwide has yet again proved the band’s ability to keep a finger on the pulse of pop culture, and demonstrates the anxious urgency that jolts listeners through a joyride of sound and color.
The album’s explosive introduction features a frenetic spray of syncopated drum and guitar sounds, cheekily inviting listeners to “Opt Out” atop a booming bassline. The track introduces the theme of critique of internet culture, which is a thread that will continue to weave the album together. “On Line” further explores anxieties of a world that increasingly bases its identity and sense of self within social media spaces. The refrain “World Wide Web/Whеre to meet me instead/On screen/Only place to be seen” is delivered in a breathy screech, both illuminating the album’s punky panache and existential urgency.
“Things feel scary in the US and all over the world right now, but music is what keeps us tethered to the world and the people around us,” the band explains. We think that’s the whole point of music in general, but we hope that this record can make people dance out of whatever corner they may feel backed into right now.”
Without a moment to catch their breath, listeners are thrust into the sprint of title track “Worldwide.” Impossibly quick and irresistibly danceable, the track evokes a glittery digital landscape emblematic of early visions of the “information superhighway.” Punchy lyrics “Left/Right/Miss/Worldwide/Pressure!/Both sides/This way that way/Wild ride” shift and shake the track in jagged directions, resulting in a feeling as disorienting as it is exhilarating.
“We had so much fun adding in little bleeps and bloops, and there was a lot of joy and love that went into that song,” the band offers. I feel that same joy and love when I see people dancing to it when we play it live.”
“Star 6 9” is a thematically heavy yet sonically exciting number, recalling visions of vocalist Blair Trammel’s deep winter depression. Chilling lyrics “Urgency, can you hear me? / Four-one-one, coming undone / L-O-O-OK, please look my way” are contrasted against high octane, futuristic guitar riffs that are emblematic of the album’s paradoxical nature. High-energy instrumentation set against existential lyricism paints the picture of Snõõper’sutterly impressionistic “Worldwide,” communicating the calamity and confusion of an impossibly fast evolution of human development.
“We actually really like envisioning some of these songs being played in a fully automated grocery store in the year 3000. Everyone is up in space somewhere, in crazy metal outfits, and people are mindlessly scanning their freeze dried food when the Worldwide by Snõõpercomes on. That’s the vibe,” the band explains.
Perhaps one of the album’s most intriguing moments comes at the tongue-in-cheek cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together” — an expected yet thematically on-point rendition that illuminates the tenacity at which the band approaches concepts of isolation and loneliness throughout their twelve tracks.
The album fittingly wraps up with “Subdivision,” both a commentary on social isolation and a call to action to break free of expectations and societal pressures. Perhaps the most thrashing and rowdy track of the project, “Subdivision” professes “Arranged by last name / Life in a board game / Always envisioned / Living in a subdivision,” yet urges listeners “But we must all agree / It's our right to be free.”
Worldwide is a lightning-fast, pulsating exploration of what it means to be human in an ever-isolated world. Between internet culture, rapid urbanization and technological advancement, the album inquires what it means to feel the depths of one’s own humanity, and to find connection in the craze. Instead of feeling preachy or proselytising, though, each musical moment teems with life, energy and excitement. This artful execution is the mark of a band who is disciplined and advanced in their musical prowess.
Find Worldwide on all streaming platforms, and be sure to listen with intent ears. If not, you may just miss the message.
