Awesome Snakes
Venom (Crustacean)
Grade: B+

By Stephanie Soucheray
Contributing Writer
Graphic by Julie Boehmer

Download: "Awesome Party"

Two and a half years ago, as the Soviettes received buzz blurb after buzz blurb in the local press and started touring nationally, Daniel Henry and Annie Holoien decided the pressure was getting to be a little much. They needed, above all else, to have fun with their music, and so, the Awesome Snakes were born.

"More than anyone else in the Soviettes, Annie and I listen to the same sort of music. We're really good friends and just needed to be a little more free and loose than the Soviettes could be," said Henry, 33. "So, we started the Awesome Snakes, the idea being we'd make a sort of jokey-mixed tape only we'd find funny. But we'd have total control."

That "mixed tape" turned into the Awesome Snakes debut album Venom (Crustacean Records). A bass-and-drums stomp through 15 songs in under 30 minutes, Venom is already generating chatter for its often hilarious, tight and weird songs about, what else, snakes and things that are awesome.

Crustacean, a label out of Madison, Wis., heard the Snakes from a cassette they made on Crois Clayton's Home Taping is Killing the Record. By early winter of last year, Venom was on its way to becoming a real album.

This isn't a joke album or concept album per se, but even Danny Snakes and Annie Awesome (their nom-de-plums for the Snakes) are shocked that the band has been well-received, even earning them a reputation-making "picked to click" credit in City Pages.

"It's pretty surprising," Annie said. At 28, Annie is a veteran of the Twin Cities music scene, having moved here from Fargo after high school. Her first job in Minneapolis was at First Avenue, where she met scenesters and friends alike. It was in these circles that Annie met to Danny.

Venom relies on Danny's improv-like lyrics and Annie's belts to deliver songs that mention six packs of beer (something that is awesome), how lame people who don't like snakes are (a reference to the reptiles), and even a funky story-rap by perpetual guest star P.O.S. ("I got a name for people who don't like snakes: Fuckers").

Half the songs, including "Venom" and "1950s UFO vs. Snakes" use samples from odd how-to tapes and self-help cassettes. They're the sort of weird tapes your friend's perverted dad might listen to on his way to work, but on Venom these clips ground the music in a surreal cut-and-past sonic landscape.

"I collect things. You know, unmarked cassettes from thrift stores, how-to-cassettes when I can find them," explains Danny. "I just save the stuff, weird stuff and hope I can use it."

One weird sample is on the track "Awesome Snacks." The song opens with a patronizing women saying "If you were born to overweight parents, you have and 80 percent chance of being overweight yourself." That byte alone would be funny, but the fact that Danny and Annie let the women's voice continue, talking about eating habits and fat cells, shows just how far they're willing to jerk-off in the name of fun.

Though Venom is at its heart a party album, with jokes and sound gags abounding, there is an obvious musicality and talent that comes through each track. On the anthemic "You don't like snakes, I don't like you," Danny takes the listener on a journey to the Little Caesar's parking lot on East Lake street. Here, Danny meets a man who shows him a snake, then he passes out. But the melody Annie adds halfway through the song hints at the Snakes need to not just be funny, but to be good.

The Snakes are not trying to make a mockery of themselves, but if people want to laugh, that's okay. "I think people like us because we're funny, and we sound like fun," said Danny. "It's not a conscious way of entertainment. We just do what we think is funny and good and if other people like it, great."

When they perform live, the Snakes avoid the potential traps of the albums subject matter. They don't use fake snakes, though sometimes Danny blows on a whistle.

"I don't care if there are thirty people there or three hundred. The're going to like the show because Annie and I are up there, playing our songs, smiling. We're not trying to be tough."

In talking to both Danny and Annie, the word "fun" pops out of their mouths at an alarming rate. Both like their current jobs because they're "fun." Danny likes hip-hop, being married, and his new bed from Ikea because all those things are "fun." Both believe in creating music, rock 'n roll that should be fun. And music wasn't always fun when they were touring with the Soviettes.

"It was just really hard," Danny said. "We were never home, and to be on the road for two months, then back for a month ... what do you do? Do you get a job and try to make money? It takes so much to tour like that."

The Soviettes were a high-stakes band; for a moment, they seemed like they would rocket out of the Minneapolis scene and take other punk-rock acts with them. They wrote fantastic songs, toured the country opening for Against Me! and were even written up in SPIN last summer. Then, one of the band members, Suzy, moved to LA. The Soviettes have been on official hiatus since this fall, and a reunion is unlikely.

Some of Danny's best memories are with that band. He recalled one show in Anchorage Alaska. "The show was sponsored by the university, and it was like every student was there. They don't get bands up there all the time, and for 30 minuets, they were just hardcore dancing. It was amazing."

If you can sound good while making people laugh and dance, you're ahead of the game, and Venom shows the Snakes to have finally reached the right balance of work and play in their lives.

"If someone offered us a big tour or something, it would be great," said Annie. "But we only want to take this as far as it can or should go. We're just a fuck-around band."

Still, there are some concrete steps for the Awesome Snakes. Danny is booking more shows and Stand Up Records, a comedy label, wants to print Venom on vinyl.

"We love vinyl," said Danny. "At first, we approached them but they said they did only spoken word comedy, but after seeing our show they wanted to make a deal. Hopefully it will happen."

Venom may be self-referential, vulgar, goofy and weird. But it is never pretentious. The album is the sound of people having fun, and people being honest about their musical intentions. Besides, who doesn't want to listen to a song called, "You Got Snakes All Up In Your Grill?"