Apr 9, 2021

SNAKE BITE WHISKY - 'Black Candy'

Many a tune has been written, many an album has been dedicated, and many a band have revelled in the ancient tradition of partying. From the gluttony of the Greeks to the gorging’s of the Vikings, every culture throughout time has had their own unique way of turning off and turning up, and that ritual is not lost on Australian quartet Snake Bite Whisky. Arriving to the shindig with a retro boombox in hand and a keg of Fosters in the other, the party doesn’t get started until this troop of hell raisers pushes the play button on their second studio album, Black Candy.

Violating his guitar and manipulating the strings into a scream in the same snake-charming way as Eddie Van Halen, guitarist Laggy sets forth a rolling thundercloud of a riff in ‘Thunderbird.’ The rhythmic jauntiness of a hyperactive chase scene with a Motley Crue-inspired motorcycle rev is thrown in for good measure against Jay R’s punk-fuelled gritty vocals, the audible effects of smoking a pack of cigarette’s a day since the age of 12 ringing true, like The Simpson’s’ Patty and Selma.

‘Raised in Hell’ utilises a more thrash metal inspired riff, complete with muddied distortion and a repetitive chorus for easy remembrance. “Spit in my face, it’s the last thing you’ll ever do. Scars, I’ve got my share tattooed on my soul,” describes the embodiment of the outlaw and biker attitude, yearning for a lust for life and the thrill of the chase with a guitar solo that’ll satisfy the speed freak within all of us.

Bass fuelled guitars drive the momentum in tunes ‘Creep Show’ and ‘Choke’, prominent from within the depths of Jay R’s southern country twanged vocals. Stacii Blake’s bass grooves slither similarly to that of a Skid Row riff, coupled with moody vocals, risqué lyrics and the sleazy swagger of Slash’s Snakepit or Velvet Revolver. The chorus line “such a dirty little girl” is followed by a sexually arousing guitar solo that matches the erotically spoken words of “choke me daddy.”

The 80s excessive hedonistic lifestyle is one that also infamously often exhibits a sinister underbelly, as ‘Bones in the Fire,’ ‘Sweet Cocaine’, ‘Dead by Dawn,’ and ‘End of the Line’ tells their tales of woe. ‘Bones in the Fire’ slows its tempo down, mirroring the finality of life in it’s lyrics; “We’re just bones in the fire, drowned by desire.” ‘Sweet Cocaine’ romanticises the love affair with addiction and it’s often detrimental effects; “I’ve got a crooked smile, I crawl on my knees mile after mile after mile. Her hooks are deep into me, she’ll never let me go.”

Following on from the previous track, ‘Hammered’ does what it says on the tin as drunken buffoonery, substance abuse, and nights spent with street workers is celebrated in abundance; “Hammered in the morning, legless everyday. Come take a sip with me.”

In a bittersweet turn of events, Snake Bite Whisky reach the ‘End of the Line’ with a crunchy guitar melody. “Spark up, chase the dragon. Fell off that broken wagon” plays with the flicker of regret, as the overindulgence catches up with your “cocaine, scatter brain. No stopping the junkie train. Your skin is crawling, the gutter is a place you call home.” Ending the record with ‘End of the Line’ presents a profound statement in ending a life, as well as the end of the record.

Snake Bite Whisky’s Black Candy is an album that would’ve been written if Motörhead had been an 80s party band with the influence of Steel Panther, added with the lethal concoction of punk angst, thrash metal impulses, and the fatal dash of any other drug other than speed. Black Candy is available across all streaming platforms now, and to stay up to date with band and touring information click here, or visit their social medias below.