Favorite Albums: 2000-20046. Hot Snakes, Automatic MidnightOriginal position on my Stylus ballot: #16 If you’ve played music - even just in basement bands - a little bit of “chicken or egg” can filter into your tastes after a while. Did I play a lot of music with driving, trebly drone strums because I loved the sound or because it came easy? What about distorted keyboard sounds? Did I acquire the instruments necessary to make simulacrums of the music I enjoy or did I learn to enjoy music I could make simulacrums of? When people say “this band made me realize I could play music too,” aren’t they just saying the band was amateurish? And once you’re making a certain type of music, do you overrate bands that pull off what you’re going for? And that’s where Hot Snakes came in for me: self-professed “downstroke warlords” distilling the old Drive Like Jehu drama into 3-minutes-or-less blasts. “If Credit Matters, I’ll Take Credit” sets the pace, each song barreling forward until you take them for granted, setting up the pulled back, smirking swagger of “Salton City.” “10th Planet” is two Greg Sages for the price of one, “Our Work Fills The Pews” lets you know they know they rule and “Let It Come” is some kinda climax. What you do, see, is take the sounds you love and try to play them harder and faster. That’s what you do.

Favorite Albums: 2000-2004
6. Hot Snakes, Automatic Midnight
Original position on my Stylus ballot: #16

If you’ve played music - even just in basement bands - a little bit of “chicken or egg” can filter into your tastes after a while. Did I play a lot of music with driving, trebly drone strums because I loved the sound or because it came easy? What about distorted keyboard sounds? Did I acquire the instruments necessary to make simulacrums of the music I enjoy or did I learn to enjoy music I could make simulacrums of? When people say “this band made me realize I could play music too,” aren’t they just saying the band was amateurish? And once you’re making a certain type of music, do you overrate bands that pull off what you’re going for?

And that’s where Hot Snakes came in for me: self-professed “downstroke warlords” distilling the old Drive Like Jehu drama into 3-minutes-or-less blasts. “If Credit Matters, I’ll Take Credit” sets the pace, each song barreling forward until you take them for granted, setting up the pulled back, smirking swagger of “Salton City.” “10th Planet” is two Greg Sages for the price of one, “Our Work Fills The Pews” lets you know they know they rule and “Let It Come” is some kinda climax. What you do, see, is take the sounds you love and try to play them harder and faster. That’s what you do.