Suicide Invoice is the second Hot Snakes album and is always fighting a battle with Automatic Midnight as my favorite Hot Snakes release. Usually Auto wins, but it's neck and neck. The thing that I remember most about the first time I heard Suicide Invoice was that there was a snippet of the intro riff of "I Hate The Kids" that was posted up on the Swami records website prior to the album coming out. It was a loop of just the intro part and it never went into the whole song.
So, the first few times I listened to the CD I skipped the first song and went right to "Gar Forgets His Insulin" (which is just one of the jewels of the Hot Snakes catalog...what a song). If probably wasn't until the 3rd or 4th time I played it that I just let the album start at the very beginning and realized there was a whole song there. Just one of those weird quirks.
This entire album is pretty jaw droppingly amazing. "XOX," "LAX," "Paperwork," these are insanely great songs showcasing a band cohesion that wasn't quite there yet on Automatic Midnight (for the obvious reason that the band wasn't completely put together for that album). Having all four members contribute elevates the game of these songs and they just churn out hit after hit.
Of all of the Sub Pop reissues, this is the one that sounds like it gained the most in the reissue process. Everything sounds a little crisper, without sacrificing any of the original version's energy. Like with Automatic Midnight, the vocals are a little more upfront and clear and the bass sounds warmer, though it's more noticeable this time. It sounds great, but it always sounded pretty great. Still the tweaks are a positive. And Sub Pop put the first batch out on yellow vinyl. Matches the artwork and looks great. I don't know why you wouldn't have this record already, but it seems like an obvious pick up to me.
Hot Snakes - Suicide Invoice:
https://hotsnakes.bandcamp.com/album/suicide-invoice
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