Eyes & Ears / Snake Mountain split on Snappy Little Numbers Records

Chuck from Snappy Little Numbers Records sent in his latest recently, a split single from Eyes & Ears and Snake Mountain, two Denver Bands united in tracks based on local institutions. Like the "Bloodstains across ...(pick a Canadian province)" series from Mammoth Cave Recordings, or Fort Lowell Records they're documenting not only a local scene but helping to inspire tracks that otherwise wouldn't have existed...what singles do best. Can't say I know anything about the Denver scene, but here's a couple bands and a label making a go of it. Makes the 7 inch scene feel a little bit smaller.

First up, on the S-Side, is Snake Mountain, and their rocking take on, "Defend Colfax", what sounds like a pretty notorious street in Denver. The guitar distortion is big with a respectable amount of echo on the vocal blasting away from the first cymbal crash. Definitely in the party rock feel of things, plenty of attitude, having a good time with massive chords and heavy pounding drums. Singing about giving the honeys a piece of his mind. I could see these guys scaring the locals, cruising JSBX-style down the sidewalk, messing up everything in their path, right into the camera. Engineered enough to be on the garage/punk fence, with back and forth "come on!" vocals with room for a blown out solo.

The E-Side has Eyes and Ears doing, "I Buried My Heart Under Bar Bar (Then Burned It Down To The Ground)",rough and raw, they sound the feedback alarm then pound this track into a weird time signature, with a repeated collapsing riff. The main vocal is loud, peaking out distorted, and the rest of the band is constantly on response duty, having nearly as good of a time competing for vocal lines. As punchy and fervent as the Hot Snakes, they lay this one down as fast as they can keep up with it. A garage blues punk headbanger with jagged Drive like Jehu stabs of melody. Do they like this bar? Did they accidentally spell it wrong on the center label? Bar Bar? No, and hopefully they get to play it, at least on the jukebox, to have their efforts appreciated before they set it on fire.

Get it from Snappy Little Numbers who says:

We are proud to announce our first release, a split single 45 featuring Eyes & Ears and Snake Mountain. Both groups provide songs that pay homage to a couple of Denver institutions. Eyes & Ears' "I Buried My Heart Under Bar Bar (Then Burned It Down To The Ground)" is about, well, Bar Bar. Bar Bar is a classic dive that plays host to many killer shows and provides questionable allowances to patrons. What's not to like? Snake Mountain's "Defend Colfax" is in honor of the most famous street in the greater Denver metropolitan area. Why is it famous? Well, aside from it's vast array of car dealerships, restaurants and hookers, Colfax is lined with bars and clubs that provide many of the same attributes as Bar Bar. So now this blurb has come full circle. At $4.00, this is a hot deal. 300 on randomly mixed color vinyl with download code.