WAND TENDER: SIDES Of SNAPPER

Rip It Up, Issue 137, 1 December 1988, Page 2

WAND TENDER: SIDES Of SNAPPER

"Rock'n'roll is on attitude," wrote Lester Bongs, "a raw wail from the bottom of the guts." This is Snapper's rock'n'roll. They come from Dunedin and they have an attitude.

I moved to Dunedin two y cars ago and people were talking about this band called the Phromcs. Led by Peter Gutteridge. who had play bass in the original Glean and then written classic Great I nw ashed songs like ‘Can't kind Water’ and Boat ith No Ocean', the Phromes proved to be an

embryonic four-piece vehicle for Peter's songwriting talent; by the time I got to sec them they ere called Snapper and things ere starting to move. Snapper hay a formula. Ex-Chills and Verlaines drummer Alan Haig provides the band with a backbcat straight from the same amprock brew that fuels l ay Palco's Panther Burns. Christine Voice turns that into a throbbing pulsebeat of big distorted fuzztones of organ, and she joins in with Peter, singing harmonies and some lead vocals. Peter and Domonic Stones run guitars and more distortion! ) oyer the top of that, and there's the "Snapper Sound." Well.

almost, cos you've gotta add the attitude: some playful aggression, the dirty look of leather'n'shades. and the video they've made for Buddy', a track off the band's debut EP on Flying Nun ( simply called Snapper), a psychedelic motorbikin' video, a

rush of images. Yeah. Easy Rider. Even thing in Snapper builds from the rhythm up. It's a rhythm that Peter (iuttcridge says he's always had in his head, a natural swing. The Great I nyvashed got close to it. but it wasn't until he started recording songs onto his

four-track, playing with a drum machine and then with Alan 1 laigh. that he had a ay of getting it into songs. "Chris and Dom then heard the tapes that Alan and 1 had made, and went Ahh, yep,'” he savs. “I'hcv immediately

understood and liked it. It’s a rhythm that everyone in the band intrinsically understands.” It's a classic rock’n’roll rhythm, primitive. “Primitive, yeah,” says Peter, “but we’ve cut it down even further. We’re into solid bedrock rhythms. There’s not much room for fancy stuff; ours is the rhythm that makes you tick. We find it and push it as hard as it will go. “The way our songs arc designed is very- simple; our melodics are born out of the rhythm, hich is different to the way most bands go, coming up with a melody first.” Some people find Snapper’s extensive use of distortion hard to take, like asking whether they’re trying to hide something, cheating by masking even-thing behind layers of distortion, but Christine points out that the w hole Snapper sound works on layers and like organ over drums, guitars over organ and the three voices over that, the distortion helps build intensity. The sound actually stems from the fact that Peter, Dom and (Jiris all found that they had Alton distortion units. - They have a big soft warm sound with lots of sustain,” says Peter. “Rather than being influenced by bands, it was more like finding that Alton sound and wanting to use it. The sounds themselves gay birth to the music.” Other bands probably do it — the Jesus and Mary Chain arc. obvious, they’re into big slabs of distortion. But there’s lots of , differences, like we re meaner!" says Chris. I low do you feel about that? “I’m not a prop,” she says. “I feel like Ido fit in with the tough guy image. I'm definitely not prissy! Women in bands are usually glamorous, unless whether they’re Nico or Lila Eord.” “Chris is definitely not cosmetic,” says Peter. ; “Replacing her as a musician or a singer would be impossible; she understands the basic way we play music, our philosophy ... well, we don’t really have a philosophy, it’s just they way we are.” Snappernes.s is, then ...? “It’s not fighting aggression,” says Domonic. "But it is aggression,” adds Peter, “perhaps positive aggression, that doesn’t put up with shit. There's a degree of feistincss about Snapper as well as a degree of pretence. “Songs on our record like ‘Buddy’ arc aggressive. But that one, we just came out and knew that it had to have a motorbike video to go with it! That song just made us think “motorbikes!” ‘Buddy’ is a big highway riff, and I guess there is something between our sound and bikes... yeah, that’s a synonym for Snapper: driving fast. Snapper is like a big pow erful engine when it gets going! “The other side of that, though, the side of Snapper that w ill surprise people who hear our next record after this one is our quiet songs. They’re not on the EP — it’s full on — but they’ve been therefrom the beginning. “1 have a theory,” Peter continues, “that a band like us, that can be incredibly raw, is also capable of being extremely gentle and tender. 'l’he Velvet Underground arc a classic example: as well as raw ' , rock’n’roll, they’d come up with a gentle song that’d just about tear your heart out.” Snapper: the songs, the sound, the attitude. Music that affects you, makes you dance. Rock’n’roll.

PAUL McKESSAR