Jersey Beat
STAG
SNATCHES OF PINK

Snatches of Pink-STAG(morisen.com) Fuck…thank God these N. Carolina rockers crawled out from under their scuzzy rock one more time. They look and sound like they haven’t showered since the early 90’s. Hell opening track "Judas" could literally destroy every metro-sexual pussy rock band like The Killers and their pathetic ilk on fuckin’ contact. Stag is all dirty guitars, slurred vocals, and ragged melodies that will make ya wanna kick a hole in yer TV set and start a real rock n roll band.

Itunes Music Review ("Waiting" Soundtrack - The Talk / SOP / Alernative Champs)  
INSANELY FUNNY 5 STARS - Awesome CD. some tracks aren't in the movie, but they are hilarious! my favs are: spoon, alrternative champs, and of course REO SPPEEEDDD-Wagon!

Pucknation
SNATCHES OF PINK
STAG
(MoRisen Records)
Graham Bailey
This is not a terrible album, but it sounds as if a group of fairly talented
rock musicians got together and recorded an album…while unbelievable drunk.

CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE
Summer 2005

SNATCHES OF PINK
STAG
(MoRisen Records)
By Sleazegrinder

Chapel Hill, North Carolina's Snatches of Pink have been quietly conjuring up grand vistas of cosmic glitter rock for a decade now, miraulously surviving everything from the onslaught of grunge to dizzying bouts of near-fame, always emerging from the wreckage with a new batch of twisted tales to tell.

They look-and sound-like Andy McCoy's long-lost drinking buddies, and their narcotic music can leave you dizzy and warm in all the right spots. Their latest collection of bulletproof poems, STAG, is a dark, swirling dust bowl of hypnotic, quasi-mystical, psychedlic glam rock with song titles that read like a road map to a lynching (Judas, Snakes, Texas, Painted Gun) and a sound that brings to mind Love-era Cult floating in a deep amber sea of blood and honey.

Intoxicating stuff, and way, way deeper than you'd expect from a band that named itself after pussy.

The Independent
STAG
SNATCHES OF PINK
Chris Parker

What is the sound of creeping decay? Resembling the last gasp of a battered liver so debauched and dissipated that it can barely gather the strength to spit out a final fuck you, Snatches' decadent rock reaches its apogee on Stag.

One can hear the influence of Royal Trux in the desiccated, distortion-ridden Stonesy crawl, which threatens at times to collapse into chaos. There's some great tunes here, such as "Snakes," whose riff recalls the Stones' "Rocks Off," but they are nearly overburdened with the weight of Rank's peculiar aesthetic, enveloping everything in a veneer of grime.

At times they're refracting the sound through stoner rock instead of glam (as on the spacey "Painted Gun"). The dark, echo-y sound, unusual panning of sounds and distant vocals all coalesce in a dire, despondent quality that infects the entire album. It's a little dispiriting at first, but there's an undeniable energy about this, and like a lover's quirks, accepting the built-in dysfunction opens up a whole new universe, that--even if a little odd--is full of Keith Richards-inspired, drugged-out rawk.

PopMatters Review
SNATCHES OF PINK: STAG
by john kenyon

"...falling off into what sound like rehearsal tapes for a Royal Trux cover
band."

High Bias
STAG
SNATCHES OF PINK
The followup to Hyena, Snatches of Pink's amazing comeback, STAG is a sneering, snaggletoothed beast of a record, asking for no quarter and giving none. Having apparently mainlined his Royal Trux records, bandleader Michael Rank takes SOP's distinctive sound and drags it through a puddle of muddy nails, letting the riffs and rhythms raucously ramble across the room like randy rhinoceri. "No Station," "Judas" and "Painted Gun" shake their arrangements until the loose change falls out of their pockets, then lazily lean over to scoop it all up. "Snakes" and "Tooth" smack Rank's enigmatic lyrics around until they stand up for themselves and fight back. Harmony vocals pass each other in the hallway but do little more than nod hello; nasty feedback envelops nearly everything like a haze of cigarette smoke. STAG is a challenging record, and not for SOP beginners. Longtime fans, however, will ultimately find it darkly compelling.[buy it] - Michael Toland

I-94 Bar
www.i94bar.com

THERE'S GONNA BE A SHOWDOWN: BEST OF 2005
By Jeff Jarema

BEST LOCAL GIG: SNATCHES OF PINK– Slim’s Bar (Raleigh, NC) 11/2005 I don’t know if this qualifies as best live show of the year ‘cause as I scratch my head thinking about it, this is the only show I can recall going to this year! (A few years ago, in a ‘zine piece, some writer/inciter named Sleazegrinder took issue with my old fogey lifestyle. %$#@, he was right.)

When I mentioned a few weeks back to another Bar regular ‘bout my digging this trashy set by North Carolina’s own disheveled rebels, I was greeted with, “I guess there’s no accounting for taste”!!! In the face of that insult alone, SOP would probably make my list. But I’ve seen these guys a couple times now and dug their glam-rawk vibe (and choice covers like “Billion Dollar Babies”).

At Slim’s, they previewed the material that’ll make up their next album and it was a return to the sonic swagger of a few years back (‘Hyena’, MoRisen, 2003). This ain’t to suggest that their latest, ‘Stag’ (MoRisen, again), fails to rock. It’s just that from the opening riff fireworks thru an increasingly unraveling program, it serves more as a rock ‘n’ roll lost weekend. Replete with great belching guitar breaks, toxic vocals and really inebriated tempos, file this under: wasted.

Sleazegrinder.com
Chapel Hill dandies in the underworld Snatches of Pink return to the fray with Stag, a roughly-hewn collection of swirling, purple-powered glam rock that drawls and drowses in it’s quieter moments, and then suddenly awakens like a bull god with an appetite for destruction for the album’s victory dances. Hot on the heels of last year’s (mighta been 18 months, who counting?) glamtastic “Hyena”, Stag is a darker and dustier affair, with one-word song titles that suggest a fateful road trip (“No Station”, “Texas”, “Snake”, “The Ape”, “Painted Gun”) and a carefully crafted sound that’s part stardust cowboy, part midnight rambler. “Stag” might be a concept album, I dunno, but it definitely sounds like 9 pieces of the same rock n’ roll puzzle. If you looking for a hit, I’d probably suggest “Snake”, a hypnotic slice of Stones-y glam-grunge that oozes through your ears like honey, or it’s hand-clapping, foot-stomping follow-up, “Dance”. The title song is a shaky, skeletal rocker that brings to mind the Screaming Trees lost somewhere on the endless highway, with nothing but the stars to guide them home; conversely “Texas” is the rough and rumbling sound of a band that knows exactly where it’s at, and just want to be somewhere else. Closer “The Ape” is actually scary at it’s start, a blurry tangle of stoner riffs and deadman’s howls, but it miraculously ends in a Bowie-esque “Na-na-na” singalong and a sweetly chiming glitter rock riff, suggesting that the dark night is over.
Victory from the jaws of defeat, you know the story. It’s a good one.If there is any magic left in rock n’ roll, Snatches of Pink are in possession of it. Still.

News and Observer Critic's Picks
STAG
SNATCHES OF PINK
By David Menconi

Snatches of Pink's positively savage new album "Stag" (MoRisen Records) rocks hard enough to kill small animals.

PERFORMERMAG.COM
SNATCHES OF PINK - STAG
Produced and Mixed by Michael Rank
Mastered by Brent Lambert at the Kitchen

On their second album, Snatches of Pink haven’t added too many new things to their repertoire. Picking up where last year’s Hyena left off, Snatches of Pink dabble in everything from proto-punk to glam and sleaze metal, all under a thin veil of smirking irony. If anything, STAG sneers harder and struts itself with more chutzpah than Hyena, with whiskey-soaked solos snaking through the roughly-sketched vocal melodies like the Stooges on Robitussin. Snatches of Pink are rather appropriately named. Band names tend to fall into two broad categories: completely inoffensive (Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth) and blatantly shocking (Meatshits, Virgin Mary Abortion, Assuck,). Snatches of Pink occupies the ever-elusive gray area. Perhaps what ’s coolest about the band’s name is that read one way, it’s overly biologically descriptive at best and insensitive at worst. Read another way, it could be the title of a Pokemon cartoon. It all depends on what kind of “snatches” brings a smile to the listener’s face. Snatches of Pink, as with everything, don’t care if you don’t get their name. The members are full of shit in such a spectacular and marvelous way that any inconsistencies can automatically be chalked up to mere trickery and mischief. One of indie rock’s few active jesters, Snatches of Pink neither take themselves too seriously nor do they veer in the direction of novelty music. The band shares inspirations with many popular bands like the Strokes, but Snatches of Pink go for a sound that is less diluted by nineties production standards. “Painted Gun” is easily among the more commercial-sounding songs on STAG, but even this song features the unpolished, overdubbed apathetic moans of the band members. Rarely does music by completely bored people sound so interesting. As part of a newer breed of Southern rock, Snatches of Pink continue to meet any expectations placed on the talented three-piece. (MoRisen )- Derek Walner

Snatches Of Pink, "Hyena" - J R Oliver
Hey, I’ve noticed a very positive shift in the rock n’ roll planets this past few months. Everything I’ve been sent to review this time around has pretty much been straight out rock n’ roll. Yeah, it’s rock n’ roll and I like it… I said I like it… Yes, I do. It’s about time we got back to the real nitty gritty. Back to what scared the hell out of middle America in the first place. I mean, guitar, bass, drums and a singer with attitude… that’s all you need. Snatches Of Pink fit the bill perfectly. “Hyena” has some Ziggy And The Spiders From Mars Bowie influences with a much harder edge. Maybe if the MC5 had backed Bowie. “Otto Wood” is a snarling rocker and so is “Reptile”. I love rock n’ roll and this is rock n’ roll. Check it out.

Indie-Music.com
SNATCHES OF PINK
STAG(MORisen Records)

Quote: "With guitars raw and raging and vocals slurred and dangerous, Snatches of Pink kick their way out of the speakers in full 70s rock glory."
By Jennifer Layton

They’ve toured with Soundgarden, Iggy Pop, Johnny Thunders, and the Ramones. Now they’re on your doorstep with half-empty beers in hand, cigarettes dangling from the corners of their mouths, and the van in the driveway still running with the stereo at full blast. And they’re here to pick up your daughters.

With guitars raw and raging and vocals slurred and dangerous, Snatches of Pink kick their way out of the speakers in full 70s rock glory. (In the press release, frontman Michael Rank calls Stag his “late seventies Stones/Aerosmith album, what they were doing vibe-wise as opposed to always literal.”)

In the first few tracks, the vocals are barely understood and used more as a melodic instrument. A drawling, growling, swaggering melodic instrument. Mick Jagger would sneer right along to this. The satanic feel of “Judas,” “Tooth,” and “Snakes” comes from the guitar distortion and the psychedelic fuzziness of the production.

When they get to “Dance,” they notify listeners that they did not forget to bring the fun – this is actually catchy. There’s even a horn section in here, but I don’t see credits for it in the CD booklet. By the time they get to “Painted Gun,” the vocals are stronger and more distinct, with the Skynyrd drawl reminding us that this is indeed a Southern rock band.

I reviewed their 2003 release Hyena a couple of years ago, and while that one had more of a New York Dolls feel, this one is blood, sweat, and guts. Nothing glittery here, except for tight leather and a rock and roll photo shoot adorning the CD booklet...

Overall, SOP is moving in a promising direction. If you don’t think so, just stay out of the way of their van. The brakes don’t work.

METAL WAVE (Italian STAG review) www.metalwave.it
“A volatile, apocalyptic cocktail of swaggering punk, unabashed glam and boisterous rock”: this is the way the Snatches of Pink describe themselves in their biography. And no words but these could better give a profile of Micheal Rank and Co. These guys from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, have been rocking throughout the hard world of music for 15 years, striding along the ways already ran by great stars such as Hanoi Rocks and Quireboys. But please, do not consider the Snatches of Pink as “the same old band” of the music business. Thanks to their unique and personal style, influenced by a huge variety of musical genres, their real worth has been recognized through the years, managing to perform with some important artists such as Iggy Pop and The Cramps. Today, the new album “Stag” is the proof that nothing was left to chance and that the true rock ‘n’ roll is the soul of this American band. Just listening to the very first riff of “Judas”, the opening track of the album, you are involved in a “the fabulous seventies” atmosphere, when the decadent sensuality of glam and the swaggering attitude of punk were all the fashion. you can find these aspects more than once in “Stag”: its lyrics’ structure is simple and direct at the same time. A wonderful background where the poetic, sometimes heartbreaking voices (typical 70s features) of Micheal Rank and Marc E. Smith – two guys who would remind you those “damned rockers” with a guitar in one hand and some whiskey in the other - beautifully resound. If on one hand this transgressive side of the band – between the decadent movement at the end of the 19th century and the post-hippies’ rebellion – do emerge in some lyrics like “Tooth”, “Texas” and in the sharp “Painted Gun”, on the other hand there is a fascinating and expressive naturalness of some breezy songs, which are so fucking “infectious” that create a wonderful parallel world in your mind. It is the case of “Dance”, maybe the greatest song of the whole album, of the powerful “Snakes”, and of the rock-blues “No Station”. These are songs that everyone, who is keen on old fashioned rock, will definitely enjoy. The melancholy final track of the album, “The Ape”, is worth mentioning separately: it is such an apparently strange song, that results actually brilliant. A song where the co-operation of the two guitars creates an unusual and gloomy atmosphere, underlined also by a languishing and pained voice. To sum up, “Stag” is something like an “extreme album”: you can love it or you can hate it, depending on your tastes. Obviously, you have to listen to the album more than once to appreciate and completely understand both the Snatches of Pink’s unexpected undertones and their chameleonic attitude. But if you are looking for those 70s marvellous old fashioned rock undertones, this album will serve your purpose.

MUSICAOLTRANZA (Italian STAG review)
www.musicaoltranza.net
SNATCHES OF PINK- STAG (MoRisen records 2005)
Like I already said in some other place, the way that music walks are really mysterious. The CD we talk about this time came in my hands, after a strange mail correspondence, directly from the United States, sent me by the singer of this group. Probably quite unknown in Europe, Snatches are not amateurs, because, in the past, they did their performance on the same stage of people like Iggy Pop, the Ramones and the Cramps. These notice could be useless alone, but the fifteen years on the road of this group are all, really really all, in the tracks of this album. “Stag” it’s a rock album, without big compromise, and without thinking of too much, by its composer, about the final result, about the fact that it could be not trendy or not so original. There’s a marvellous sound, big, heavy, dirt, with great riffs in all the songs. Simple musical lines but with a deep impact, that creates a work, in my opinion, formidable. It’s full of energy, it pumps, and I had to listen to it continuously. Quickly to the point, like just the pure rock could be. Thinking about all this story, I’ve been very lucky to have met these American boys, so damned and glam to see, but above all so rough and good to listen to. They sound like a cross between an intellectually honest Lenny Kravitz and the unforgettable sound of the Dinosaur Jr . Marvellous songs are “Sankes”, “The Ape”, “Dance” and “Judas”. Granted success if they will find a European or Italian radio that plays these songs!

Spacelab Music Review
SNATCHES OF PINK: STAG
Written By: Charles Sears

Snatches of Pink's album STAG opens with the weird production and raspy voice quality of Trent Reznor with Nine Inch Nails, but seconds later it becomes evident that this is not some retrodden Industrial music.

The song Dance (appropriately titled) builds dynamically and introduces a horn line that can be assumed to represent the T-bone steak of the musical smorgasbord... The rest of this record is not as overtly dynamic but some songs have their moments of innovation. In STAG, Snatches of Pink implores equal parts mope rock and post-punk — like musical undertones. All the while flaunting a name that hints at camel toes.

I like this record because it feels organic, not just like a collection of songs. These songs seem to be born out of necessity in the order that they are played, and each individual song's production is indicative of some kind of greater meaning I cannot discern but know is there.

The Independent
IT TAKES BALLS
SNATCHES IS 20 AND STILL ROLLING
Chris Parker

Bowling is no more a sport than rock 'n' roll is a profession. It's something you fall into because you're good, or because you love it. For most, it's just a pleasant diversion. Other than that, I can't think of anything they have in common, which was reason enough to haul Snatches of Pink singer/guitarist Michael Rank out to AMF Lanes in Durham for 10 frames and a few beers while we rehashed the history of his band. Snatches of Pink is celebrating its 20th year in existence with the new album, Stag. A dirty, grimy album, it makes Rank & Co. a fitting opener for this weekend's Sleazefest. August 10, 2005

Rank and I meet in the Lantern's bar in Chapel Hill where it's so dark you can barely see the floor. It's one of Rank's favorite hangouts. ("I thrive in low light," Ranks says in true musician fashion.) We down a couple drinks to steel us for the ordeal ahead. He last remembers bowling in Birmingham while on tour some 15 years ago. It's been about half as long for me. Rank's a skinny, shaggy-locked fellow with the pallor and trace of stubble you'd expect from those who make a living as a beer salesman. Somewhat surprisingly, he was an athlete as a kid.

"I was born in New York and I did the baseball--I was a catcher-- and I did the footbalI--I was a receiver," Rank recalls. "Pretty much when I saw my first KISS album in the window of the Caldor, that was it. It was that and discovering bongs. They go hand in hand. KISS, pot and ultimate Frisbee."

After high school, Rank moved to California, where he might still be were it not for Snatches' original singer Andy McMillan.

"Me and a buddy lived in decadent squalor between L.A. and San Diego, in a little beach community near the ocean. I ate a bag of Doritos a day, did a ton of crystal, and drank a ton of gin. Gin! That offends me worse than the crystal," says Rank. "I was there for about a year. I got very thin. And then Andy sent me a letter, saying 'I have an idea for a band. You can be Keith, I'll be Mick.'"

"I'm not a Mick Taylor Stones fan. I'm into Ron Wood and Black and Blue. I'm like a '75-'79 guy for everything. I'm the guy who likes Aerosmith after Rocks, when they're all breaking up and drugged out of their gourds. I like Rock In a Hard Place," he says.

But Rank's always been the type to go against the grain. After the rocking Dead Men album, Rank set upon a course to create, in his words, "an entire album that sounded like Led Zeppelin's 'Tangerine'": 1992's Bent With Pray. He still remembers the Independent review headline: "Too Much Herb, Fear of Rock."

We pause for an extended break around the fifth frame, winded already from the game, clutching our beers for sustenance. Bowling's remarkably barbaric for a sport. Hurling big rocks down a runway? What is this about? It's a sport for Henry Rollins and Fred Flintstone.

"They're driving their cars with their feet. We can't take clues from these Flintstone people," Rank pipes in.

Recorded in first takes with Rank's home demo scratch vocals, Stag's a raw, mistakes-glaring kind of album, which was Rank's intent.

"First takes are always cooler than what comes after. I'm also the biggest fan of mistakes. Not only did I want them, that's what I would turn up in the mix. Which really bummed out my bandmates, but then I think they saw what it's all about," says Rank. "It's like those '70s bands when they've already done the cool record and everybody's doing drugs and they're breaking up. And it's really unpleasant, but those are my favorite albums. I want that vibe. I want fucked up guitars, marracas and really distorted vocals. I think I succeeded."

But his success in creating the ultimate demo album has sent Rank in the opposite direction.

"For the last three months I've been a rock cliché. I've hidden at home and demoed 25 songs, which I've never done in my entire life. Ever. I'm the guy who goes into the session, 'Here's the nine songs. There's no bonus tracks, no B-sides,'" he says. "I've had the most fucked up last two years, and the last year has been mind-boggling. I've never been a guy who has shit happen then goes and writes about it, but I am now."

He laughs.

"I'm ready to do the most commercially accessible album I've ever done. It's my guilt on giving them Stag. I don't think they could have a more bad-ass album, but it's probably a challenge to market."

CARBON 14 MAGAZINE
SNATCHES OF PINK- HYENA
These cats are fucking rockstars and I love 'em for it! From the first swaggering blast of overdriven guitar and slurred, raspy vocals I am made aware of how much I've missed Michael Rank and co. since their last appearance. Seems like a decade ago... give or take a couple o' years. My fave tune here is the gorgeous, majestic "Nero" with its unforgettably epic, hooky chorus, lazy-drug-hazy lead vocals and staggering dynamics. Number Two on the hit parade would be the fog of fuzz vesion of Ziggy's "Moonage Daydream", an absolute nothin'-is-sacred, kick-in-the-stall exercise in excess, mayhem.and attitude. Dangerous stuff...does anyone remember danger?
-JEFF DAHL

High Bias
SNATCHES OF PINK
CHARLOTTE'S FUCKING WEB
(Louds Hymn/Morisen)
The first in what is hopefully a long series of authorized bootlegs, Charlotte's Fucking Web documents one of North Carolina's finest rock bands at a club show in 1990. Besides having unusually clear sound for a bootleg (even if the drums sound like big buckets and you can't hear the bass), this disk also boasts a raucous performance. S.O.P. blazes through choice selections from its then most-recent album Dead Men ("Goin' Down," "Salty Dog," "Midway"), a golden oldie ("Ones With the Black"), an electric rock version of a song from their then-forthcoming acoustic record Bent With Pray ("Undead") and some Snatched covers (Dylan's "Odds & Ends," the Stones' "2000 Light Years From Home"). Even better are the handful of tunes that never made it onto any of the band's studio records—"Seven Winds," "Asylum" and "Bloodshot Blue" are especially fine. Best of all, Charlotte's Fucking Web is available as an absolutely free download, including artwork, from the band's website. If you're a fan, you'll plotz. If you've always been curious (and you've got the equipment), now you've got no excuse. -Michael Toland


Jersey Beat Magazine
SNATCHES OF PINK - Hyena (MoRisen records, 1409 East Blvd. Suite 116,
Charlotte, NC 28203) Playing rock n' roll that transcends labels and inclusion in some type of sub-genre is growing increasingly difficult, unless you are Snatches of Pink. Taking the best elements of Exile On Main St., Tim and Raw Power, Hyena is a rock purist's dream. Blending thick, swaggering riffs with gripping lyrics, Snatches strut and snarl through a brilliant record. The gritty "Decline" sets the tone, but the record hits its apex with the energized 1-2 punch of "Otto Wood" and " Come to This", two songs that unabashedly kneel at the altar of punk rock while still being melodic as hell. This is a delicate balancing act, and the guys show this off again on "Reptile". I have to respect this band, for they know they have a great sound but refuse to be a one trick pony as evidenced by "Acetate" and "The Last Invention". Upon first listen, these tracks may seem out of place, but they are a great change of pace before the guys launch into rougher guitar dirges such as "Terminal". To close the record, the Snatches pay tribute to a legend with their version of Bowie's gem, "Moonage Daydream". Go get this. - Rich Quinlan


High Bias
Aural Fixations
SNATCHES OF PINK
Hyena
(MoRisen)
One of the best bands to ever come out of the American South (let's jumpstart that hyperbole, shall we?), North Carolina's Snatches of Pink has never gotten the pop culture permeation it deserves, even after 15 years of service. Despite great albums like 1988's Dead Men, 1992's Bent With Pray and 1997's Blood and Commons (under the name Clarissa), SOP has remained under the radar, making distinctive, quality rock & roll that most bands would give their Marshall stacks to claim. Maybe it's because SOP doesn't fit easily under one banner—the trio starts with a Johnny Thunders, hard-edged rock & roll base, but adds folk rock, roots music, glam rock, poetic lyrics and a sort of ambient yearning that softens the group's raucous shell just a touch. Hyena, the band's first album in 6 years and first without the original lineup, grows mainly from Rank's hard rock roots. Loud, dirty and melodic, cuts like "Golden Years," "Nero" and "Come to This" rock hard with attitude and hooks to spare. Rank does find room in the organized chaos for "Acetate" and "The Last Invention," a typically gorgeous pair of his patented ethereal ballads, as well as a spitting, stomping cover of David Bowie's neglected classic "Moonage Daydream." As a bonus, Hyena includes bonus tracks taken from the original sessions for the record; considering how good "God Speed," "Native Tongue" and "Holiday" are, it's a wonder they were originally cut. Remember that hyperbole thing? Here's some more: Hyena is one of the best records of 2003, better than high profile rock & roll releases by Ryan Adams, Paul Westerberg and Iggy Pop. Believe it—Snatches of Pink deserves its place in the pantheon of lauded true believers, and Hyena is the perfect gift of the gods. - Michael Toland [buy it]


The Independent
SNATCHES OF PINK
Chris Parker
Stumbling, double-visioned, Stonesy-swagger with a rebellious rock roar;
scabrous, calloused guitar slipping through the hole in their melodic pocket
and trailing behind like a series of dysfunctional relationships. The glam
is gone but the dream isn't, as singer/guitarist Michael Rank's retrofitted
Snatches returns as a four-piece, jettisoning the textured explorations of
Clarissa, and re-engineering the early hard-rocking crunch into a hungrier,
open-mawed bite of riff-heavy, fist-in-the-air rawk that makes the New York
Dolls look like a bunch of cross-dressing momma's boys.


THE BIG TAKEOVER
SNATCHES OF PINK
Hyena
(MoRisen)
Neal Agneta
It's a pretty safe bet that anyone who sees Snatches of Pink for the first time, whether via photograph or live performance, will cursorily lump this Chapel Hill quartet in with the current crop of "rock revivalists" such as The Star Spangles, Jet, and need I mention The Strokes. Despite coincidentally sharing the same oddly manicured but lovingly unkempt appearance flaunted on MTV by the aforementioned, Snatches of Pink are the proverbial square peg. For starters, their history dates back to 1987 and they haven't laid any wax (or aluminum)on the public under that moniker for some 11 years. More significantly, they circumvent the now ubiquitous Joy Division-cum-Television flavor of the moment in favor of a decidedly more grizzled and lo-fi aesthetic, akin to Midwest post-Replacements rawk troupes like the Junk Monkeys and Magnolias. As a whole, HYENA packs more snarl than bite, but the Snatches' utter lack of pretension is refreshing.


Magnet
SNATCHES OF PINK
Hyena
(MoRisen)
After North Carolina glam-rock combo Snatches Of Pink changed its name to Clarissa in the mid-'90's, it didn't necessarily wimp out. Admittedly, Snatches' rep for pissing off patrons and club owners alike had earned them the dubious sobriquet "most hated band in Chapel Hill," and songwriter Michael Rank had become more interested in chasing an acoustic muse. The two resulting Clarissa albums, while excellent, wound up confusing the group's fanbase. After an extended hiatus, Rank has revived the old moniker and assembled a new lineup. Hopping on the nü-rawk bandwagon? Curb your cynicism, kids. HYENA is a return-to-roots effort for Rank, combining elements of the Stooges, Replacements, and Stones on the careening, swagger-stomp "Decline" (which could pass for an Alice Cooper outtake) and a revved-up cover of David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream." Peering from the eye of the maelstrom, however, are several muted moments (notably, 12-string balad "The Last Invention") and such respites from the din are what prove Rank, a published poet, isn't joining anyone's parade.--Fred Mills


Indie-Music.com
SNATCHES OF PINK
Hyena
(MoRisen)
Quote: "These are unpredictable musicians performing beautifully violent rock music, and they seem to come from another world."
By Jennifer Layton
The story of how I first encountered this band is a perfect example of their musical shock effect. A couple of months ago, I was sitting in the teeny-tiny Open Eye Cafe in Carrboro, listening to an acoustic folk singer/songwriter named Don Everett Pearce. The vibe was mellow, the guitar chords were warm, and the hot chocolate was to die for. Suddenly, the door opened, and in breezed this...guy. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was a guy. As he strutted past me with four beautiful college girls in tow, I could have sworn I was looking at Rod Stewart in heavy glam makeup, a fur-trimmed leather coat, and platform shoes. Despite the fact that he had captured the dumbfounded stares of everyone in the room, he didn’t seem to be trying to steal the show. He nodded to Pearce and walked straight to the counter. The Open-Eye doesn’t serve alcohol, so after buying his decidedly un-rock-star beverage, he and his entourage floated back out, with another nod of appreciation to the performer, who almost dropped his guitar. After the show, I talked with Pearce, and the first thing he asked me was, “Who WAS that guy?” I was a little embarrassed to admit I didn’t know. Such a striking man...mannequin...certified glam boy would be hard for anyone within a thousand-mile radius to miss. Two days later, I got a review request from a small record label. I opened the envelope, pulled out the press shot, and had a Psychic Friends moment. It was him. The shot was in black and white, but it was the same guy, same hair, same fur-lined coat, same pout. Just the look you want for someone fronting your rock band. But Kevin Clark doesn’t front the band Snatches of Pink. He plays bass. When a band is visually and musically powerful enough for Kevin Clark to be the guy who stands behind the frontman and plays bass, you know to brace yourself for a musically maniacal shock to the senses. Those with high blood pressure or heart conditions should not ride. Snatches of Pink has been around for many years, through many albums and many band members, but the one constant has been guitarist/songwriter/singer Michael Rank. On his own, he’s been lauded for his songwriting by publications such as CMJ and Spin. Now with John Howie, Jr on drums, Marc Smith on guitar, and the coffeehouse-crashing Kevin Clark on bass, Rank leads Snatches of Pink on their new release, the hungry, aggressive, intense Hyena. This is down and dirty yet true glam rock and roll. The music preens like the Stones, bleeds like Iggy Pop, and weaves dark magic through the notes in a way that not many bands can do without sounding silly or pretentious. I find it fitting that they cover David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust tune “Moonage Dream,” as they flaunt and swagger with the same credibility as Bowie. It’s like this band moved into an apartment just below Bowie and right above the New York Dolls. Snatches of Pink punctuates their deliberately ugly snarls with moments of unabashed prettiness, and it’s all in the vocals. While Rank’s vaguely threatening delivery paves the way, Clark’s feminine side infuses itself into the rest of the band enough for them to blend their voices into sweet, flowing waves of sound before yanking the rug out from underneath and crashing back into the storm. “Otto Wood” is a perfect example. They also pause for the quiet, mournful “Acetate,” with half-breathed lyrics and a mesmerizing melody. There’s a jangly feel to the guitar playing, although it’s a pretty heavy one, and I can just see the band cringing at my use of “jangly” to describe their sound. Then again, they might just laugh and howl at the moon. These are unpredictable musicians performing beautifully violent rock music, and they seem to come from another world. If you can’t get to one of their shows, their web site offers video clips that seem to burst right out of the monitor. Snatches of Pink are already rock stars. Regardless of how many albums they sell or whether or not pop culture TV pays any attention to them. They’d scare the hell out of Ryan Seacrest anyway.

trakMARX:punk rock...and roll{UK}
www.trakMARX.com

Snatches Of Pink - "Hyena" - MoRisen Records
Snatches Of Pink are fronted by Michael Rank - a man who could give Chris
Robinson a run for his money in the highly defined cheekbones department. He
looks like he should be in The Faces. Snatches Of Pink hail from North Carolina - home of the once great Superchunk - & play measured melodic outlaw rock n roll that is part Replacements, part Stones homage, part Dolls-ian train wreck & resolutely all man. Their sound is gritty & effective, their songs are dense & expansive. We may well have heard much of it before - but no one is claiming to have re-invented the wheel here. It does what it says on the tin. "Otto Wood" & "Come To This" are as good as anything the genre has had to offer for sometime - & should be embraced accordingly. Elsewhere, "Terminal" & "Reptile" make a particularly good fist of it - & only the over-bearing presence of a cover of David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream" racks up any negative equity. All Snatches Of Pink need now is a decent name & they could be contenders.
www.snatchesofpink.com
Jean Encoule - tMx 15 - 06/04

Veglam Webzine (Fr.)
SNATCHES OF PINK 'Hyena'.
MoRisen Records
Looking at the pics of the band can only make you think about Johnny Thunders (and the HEARTBREAKERS) if you're familiar with the style. This American band from North Carolina offers us their third album (well, fourth 'cause they used to be called CLARISSA) full of dirty and noisy guitar riffs and choruses filled with emotion. This is the raw/garage side of glam rock'n'roll but the melodies also remind me of The REPLACEMENTS and The HANGMEN. The LORDS OF The NEW CHURCH spirit can also be heard at times throughout the listening, especially in the vocals. There's no bad song on this album and I advise you to check out the video for "Nero" on their website, you'll see they've got style! David Bowie's cover ("moonage dream") is interesting since the band made it sound very personal and dirtier.The media is trying to sell you (nu?)rock everyday but listening to this album will make you realize that genuine rock'n'roll is still alive and kicking!
/Laurent.


Sleazegrinder.com
SNATCHES OF PINK 'Hyena'.
MoRisen Records
Chapel hill glitter rebels Snatches of Pink have been around, in one incarnation or another, since 1985. Back then, they were one of the few bands on the scene skinny enough, and slinky enough, to successfully share stages with supercats like Thunders and Iggy and seem like peers, not posers. Fueled by the unmistakable chime of Michael Rank’s guitar- a crystal sheen roar when the arena came calling, an ethereal, rain-soaked jangle in quieter times- they were a remarkably adept rock and roll machine, capable of Motor City savagery, snake-hipped glam, million-dollar pop, or emotionally charged roots rock, depending on mood or occasion. Although they enjoyed a fair amount of regional success, much like that other great ‘lost’ band of the 90’s, Dramarama, Snatches of Pink were ultimately victims of their own aptitude- they were just too good, and the success they most certainly deserved slipped ‘em by, in favor of grunge and other forms of electrified suicide. In the early 90’s, Rank released a personal and poignant solo record, “Coral”, that remains one of my favorite records, ever. He was the quintessential American rock and roll poet- sad but proud, bruised but unafraid, with his heart on his sleeve but an extra ace in his back pocket, just in case. He sang like Marc Bolan, played guitar like Keef, and looked like Rod Stewart. He was a rock star, if I ever saw one. So, where the fuck did he go?
Snatches of Pink regrouped in the mid-90’s as Clarissa (“It always felt like there was sort of a bad ju-ju curse hanging over Snatches of Pink”, Rank said about the name change, to ESP magazine) and released another 2 albums, but they fell under my radar completely. In fact, I had no idea what happened to Rank after “Coral”, although I did often wonder. Recently, out of the blue, Michael contacted me, to let me know Snatches of Pink were back together, and had a new album out. Well, right on.
“Hyena” is as brilliant as “Coral” was, filled with tough rock and roll songs, tempered with an uncanny pop sensibility. Comparisons to Hunky Dory-era Bowie, Dogs D’Amour, any ex-Gunner’s solo record (Izzy, Duff, Gilby), the Suicide Twins, Nash Kato’s “Debutante”, the aforementioned Dramarama, and just about any other star-spangly true believer in the glory and redemption of all things rock are all welcome, I’m sure, but hardly necessary. I’m sure they’d be pleased just to hear that it sounds kinda like the Stones, and that it made you happy when you listened to it. For me, it’s like running into an old friend after a decade’s absence, and realizing that it wasn’t just the time past that gave me such fond memories, but that there really was something good and noble and true about ‘em, and it’s still there, alive and well and kicking up a storm. I can’t find a song on here that doesn’t sound like something I want to listen to another dozen times, but “Otto Wood” is probably the most immediate hit, with it’s drawling, singalong chorus and it’s choppy sleaze rock riff, and “Chinese Rope” is the raunchiest, with a nasty-ass guitar line that brings to mind the bad dog bite of the Lanternjack. Really, though, the whole record is stellar. “Hyena” is a most welcome return, indeed. Of course, Snatches of Pink are still men out of time- not a lick of emo or nu-anything on here, baby- but I reckon they’re getting used to that.
So, why now, in these terrible endtimes, these days of strife and terror, would a brittle-hearted poet in ragged scarves and sparkly tatters return to the trenches? Well, because rock n' rollers have never been known for good timing, baby. And anyway, purity of intent and honest-to-god soul is timeless, which means that Snatches of Pink are not late to the party at all- they were just waiting for all the posers and good time kids to leave. Now that only the cool people are left, slit-eyed, satisfied, and feelin’ just a little bit melancholy, what better time to break out the battered guitars, dust off the boas and pointy boots, and rock and roll like we used to do, back when anything was not only possible, but probable? “Hyena” is all the good things you remember about being young and good lookin’ and just as rock as fuck, only now they’re older, wiser, and yeah, better. I wouldn’t expect anything less from these guys. Highly recommended.


EARCANDY.COM
SNATCHES OF PINK 'Hyena'.
MoRisen Records
Review by J.R. Oliver
Hey, I’ve noticed a very positive shift in the rock n’ roll planets this past few months. Everything I’ve been sent to review this time around has pretty much been straight out rock n’ roll. Yeah, it’s rock n’ roll and I like it… I said I like it… Yes, I do. It’s about time we got back to the real nitty gritty. Back to what scared the hell out of middle America in the first place. I mean, guitar, bass, drums and a singer with attitude… that’s all you need. Snatches Of Pink fit the bill perfectly. “Hyena” has some Ziggy And The Spiders From Mars Bowie influences with a much harder edge. Maybe if the MC5 had backed Bowie. “Otto Wood” is a snarling rocker and so is “Reptile”. I love rock n’ roll and this is rock n’ roll. Check it out.

GREENSBORO NEWS & RECORD
SNATCHES OF PINK 'Hyena'.
MoRisen Records
4.5 stars
Offering a raw, energy-charged rock n' roll, Snatches of Pink's MoRisen debut, "Hyena," offers 11 tracks in 30 grueling minutes. Somewhere between '70s rock and modern rockers Buckcherry lie the hearts of Snatches of Pink. Their music's heavy edge comes with a punk/college-rock styling that grew in the basements of Chapel Hill. While the band has been around for over a decade, their latest album (their first in seven years and fifth overall) lets the band enter a musical world that desperately needs them. Guitars soaked with feedback and vocals blanketed with distortion - the album may vary speeds, but the energy is always there. The album isn't a note-for-note, clear-as-a-whistle production masterpiece, but it's not supposed to be. It's much better as a rough-around-the-edges, pour-your-heart-onto-the-pages musical journey."Hyena" is not all charged-up rock, however. "Acetate" is a slow, melodic track halfway through the CD, offering a rest from the raging. The band has shared the stage with acts such as Iggy Pop, The Ramones and Soundgarden, and "Hyena" should lasso more of the same caliber shows.


CREATIVE LOAFING/CHARLOTTE
"Very fine, very loud gutter-glam rock."


CRASHININ.COM
SNATCHES OF PINK 'Hyena'.
MoRisen Records
www.morisen.com
Twisted, fiery, punk from North Carolina that mixes elements of old good time rock n’ roll (The Rolling Stones), punk, and glam with a garage rock attitude. They give off the look that they don’t give a fck (what you think), but after listening to the album you can tell that they know exactly what they are doing. Their twisted Bowie cover of “Moonage Daydream” gives us terrific guitar feedback frenzy. Michael Rank, lead singer, definitely has some Johnny Thunders spirit in his blood as he leads the pack through “Nero” singing lyrics like “Black on Black” with a pure you can hate me punk attitude, but I’m so cool you’ll love me anyway. Snatches of Pink is good punk n’ roll.

VENUS MAGAZINE
Johnny Thunder's inspired riffing with Rank turning out melodic lo-fi nuggets that recalls the best of alt-rock...HYENA has all the signatures of Rank's sound.

CREATIVE LOAFING/ ATLANTA
Snatches of Pink's first release in over a decade finds vocalist/ guitarist Michael Rank, the group's only original member, snapping back with an irreverent groove... The recording presents the most commanding songs of the group's career. "Decline" snarls to life like a lawnmower while "Oto Wood" is a goth-infected jab at the pelvis. The earnest vocal and guitar deliveries in "Nero" and The Last Invention" come together to prove that this group's impudent leanings are a lifestyle choice not to be disturbed by simple trends.

THE NEWS & OBSERVER
Leaner and meaner but just as high-powered, Snatches of Pink have always been a capital-R Rock Band -- remember rock 'n' roll? By now, the trio is down to Michael Rank as the sole remaining original member. But on "Hyena" (Morisen Records), the first new Snatches album in many moons, Rank's current lineup will rock you like a tornado touching down.

Advanced Alternative Media /
In Rotation
SNATCHES OF PINK 'Hyena'.
MoRisen Records
Review:
For a well over a decade now Snatches of Pink have been tearing up the Chapel Hill music scene with a ferocity and rock’n’roll swagger to challenge the likes of Husker Du, Mud Honey, Dinosaur Jr. or perhaps the most comparable band Urge Overkill. To compare this current band to such early 90’s alternative rock acts is not passé; it’s simply accurate. The band has been playing since the days of grunge, from a time when alternative rock was still a logical thing to call the genre. They still hold true to that gritty, grungy sound but with an upbeat flair that suits our modern age and will appeal to fans of current bands like the Hives and Mando Diao.
Snatches of Pink is one of the first releases from Charlotte, NC’s new label MoRisen (pronounced Mo-RISE-en). Setting themselves up to be the label for Charlotte and other NC bands, MoRisen follows the lead of other regional indie labels to be much like what Saddle Creek is to Omaha and what K Records is to the Northwest or what Thrill Jockey is for Chicago.
‘Hyena’ marks the band’s fifth release, coming after a seven-year hiatus. The band features the talents of frontman Michael Rank, who CMJ New Music Monthly praises as “a songwriter of rare talent and intensity” and who also currently serves as lead guitarist in the newly formed and hotly-tipped rock act MARAT (also sent your way via Sunday Service). Before playing as Snatches of Pink, Chapel Hill old timers might remember these rockers as the band Clarissa. But newcomers beware, Snatches of Pink is gonna kick your ass.
PS: be sure to check out a rockin’ cover of Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream” at the tail end of ‘Hyena’…

INK19.COM
SNATCHES OF PINK 'Hyena'.
MoRisen Records
Who knew?
Who knew that we were overdue for a glam rock revival? Well, the jury might be out on that, but if your tastes run to T Rex, Hanoi Rocks and wearing really high platform shoes, then Hyena needs to be on your wish list. Brawny songs, loud guitars and the obligatory Bowie cover ("Moonage Daydream" this go round) bring back the mid '70s in all their excessive glory. Snatches of Pink have been around forever, and while they aren't going to make anyone forget Marc Bolan or Mick Ronson, they certainly attack the concept of hard rock with a vengeance, and more power to 'em. If your favorite thing about Velvet Goldmine was the soundtrack (and if it wasn't, you need to up your meds...) then Snatches of Pink might be just the thing for ya. Rock on, all you young dudes.

The Independent
SNATCHES OF PINK 'Hyena'.
MoRisen Records
Chris Toenes
Michael Rank has assembled a new outfit for this on MoRisen, a new label out of Charlotte, the first Snatches record in a decade. Now he's got longtime bandmate Marc E. Smith on guitar, Kevin Clark on bass and John Howie replacing Sara Romweber on drums. Rank's ability to wring the urgency of '70s-styled rock from his songs, both vocally and in the palpability of the music, is what keeps his music relevant after nearly 20 years. In the simple songs on "Hyena," there are pieces of Rank's favorites shredded like fine sawdust on a barroom floor. The swagger of glam (including an able nod to Bowie via a cover of 'Moonage Daydream") is ripped pretty heavy, and of course, there's that long-standing obsession with all things Stones. Standouts include "Nero," which made this writer rewind to hear it again, and "Terminal," which bears down hard with a squall of fuzz guitar. The two slow numbers, "Acetate" and "The Last Invention," must be intended as downtime in an otherwise raucous set of songs, but the best stuff here is when Snatches is in their element--evoking the feel they do live, boot kicked up on the edge of the stage, heads cocked, confident. How will they fare, with the "rock revival" (a meaningless term anyway) albatross currently hanging around the neck of music fans? Same as Rank and his cohorts always have, I'd wager, doing it because they love to, nothing more. Here's hoping it gets 'em a stab at some new listeners; they deserve it, no less than the Flat Duo Jets deserve ups from folks like the Whites Stripes.

Music Monitor
SNATCHES OF PINK 'Hyena'.
MoRisen Records
Micael Rank has been the one constant in Chapel Hill's SNATCHES OF PINK over the years, including the period when, for whatever reason (well, one could offer an educated guess), the trio changed its name to CLARISSA. Throughout, Snatches of Pink's heavy-guitar, guitar-heavy sound has remained almost as consistent as Rank's membership. You could call it denim jacket rock-it never really goes out of style while also never scaling the heights of fashion- an it's in full, unapologetic display on the new HYENA, the band's first release for Charlotte's MoRisen Records. Guitarist/background vocalist Marc E. Smith, bassist Kevin Clark, and drummer John Howie Jr. join Rank in the current incarnation, a talented, veteran- stocked lineup that plays with rookie enthusiasm whether tackling the Ziggy Stardust cut "Moonage Daydream," making like a four-man buzzsaw on "Reptile," or slowing things down effectively (and melodically) on "Acetate."

ESP
      Snatching the Pink
By Grant Britt
Michael Rank has a fear of analysis. Earlier in his career, the Snatches of Pink guitarist was quoted as saying that he doesn’t like to analyze his music for fear it’ll disappear. “All these years later, its still looming,” Rank laughs. “Maybe I’m not quite as afraid of it disappearing, but I’m definitely not a big analyzer.”
Rank seems to feel that lyrics are not the focal point of his music, even going so far as to say that his songs are just combinations of pictures and none of them are really about anything. “My process is always the music comes first,” the guitarist says. “I come up with the guitar chords and progressions always the first thing. I don’t think I’ve ever written lyrics and then went and tried to fit em to the music or write music to the lyrics. The lyric process, for better or for worse has always been sort of a fill in the blanks.”
Plenty of people are satisfied with what Rank has done with Snatches since the band’s inception in 1985. The group stared as a duo with bassist Andy McMillan and Rank, expanding to a trio with drummer Sara Romweber, who joined soon after leaving Let’s Active in ’86. The sound was rough, raw, and explosive-slashing, abrasive, swaggering rock with an in-your-face punk attitude. Deader Than You’ll Ever Be, recorded live at New York’s CBGB in the late ’80s captures the band in full snarl.
The guitar parts were chunky, slashing riffs that recalled an earlier time, and brought comparisons to New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders. Rank loves the comparison — the guitarist is one of his biggest heroes, as long as you’re talking about playing, and not songwriting. “I don’t think my songs are necessarily like Johnny Thunders’ songs,” he says,” “but I think the guitar playing is. He was huge to me, as obviously was Keith Richards.”
Not all of the Snatches material is the full tilt snarl of their early work. 1992’s Bent With Pray was a complete departure from anything they had done before, complete with some acoustic work. “My whole goal with Bent with Pray was to have an album that was sort of like the Zeppelin song “Tangerine,” where you knew it was a rock song but the acoustic was the dominant instrument you heard,” the guitarist says. “And I think we really succeeded with that. I’m pretty proud of Bent With Pray still.” Critics praised the work, with SPIN calling it “one of he 10 best albums of 1992 you never heard.”
Frustrated with their lack of commercial success, the band changed their name to Clarissa, and put out two albums under that name. “It always felt like there was sort of a bad ju-ju curse hanging over Snatches of Pink that never really seemed to help us,” Rank explained. “I think it at the time we were coming out of a label deal, and there were a few legalities that were holding it up. We just felt like f*&k it, let’s just start new. I think we discovered the curse runs deeper than the name,” he laughs.
Now the band is back as Snatches, punky snarl intact and as aggressive sounding as ever. “Where we’re at now is where we started,” says the guitarist of the sound on the band’s upcoming release, Hyena. “I’m never gonna be a technical player. I can’t do scales and I can’t do all the big lead runs. But I can grab a string and hit it,” he laughs. “That whole ’70s Thunders, Dead Boys, Stones, but a more aggressive Stones, and that’s really where I came from — it feels like a big relief to get back to it, to tell you the truth.”
There’s been extensive personnel changes, however. McMillan is gone, as is Romweber, although she did all the work on the new album. She retired just before the deal with MoRisen records came through to duo the new album, but Ranks says they’re still friends.
Currently playing drums for the band is 2 Dollar Pistol John Howie, Jr. “Before he was in 2 Dollar Pistols, John used to be like the most premiere punk rock drummer/ glam rock drummer in this whole area,” Rank says. “Unless you’ve been around here for awhile, no one knows that. But I remembered. So when Sarah decided to stop, I remembered John’s punk rock youth. And I asked him about it and he was amazingly into it.”
Howie does “a David Grohl kind of thing,” Rank says excitedly. “I mean, he bashes it. That’s been fantastic.”


Preston Toney interviews Michael Rank of SOP

Chapel Hill natives Snatches of Pink have been around for over twenty years. In 2003 they released the critically favorable "Hyena". It was the first album in over ten years to carry the SOP name (Michael Rank and cohorts Sara Romweber, and Andy McMillan released two albums under the Clarrisa moniker during the mid nineties). The group has undergone some personnel changes over the years leaving Rank (guitar/lead vocals) as the sole original member. Kevin Clark (bass) and Marc E. Smith (guitars/vocals) are the new guys in town who joined Rank to create "Hyena" and brought a revitalized sound to the group. Recording sessions recently wrapped for the follow up album. An early listener says of the new album entitled "STAG", " IT SOUNDS LIKE A BEAUTIFUL CAR WRECK VIEWED
ON YOUR THIRD GLASS OF ABSINTHE." I had a chance to interview Michael Rank about the new album. Here is what he had to say:

Q. How long were the recording sessions for STAG?

The tracking sessions proper were done in five days. I did, however, import my own guitar tracks from my original home demos of the songs prior to the sessions. This allowed the rawest of my skeletons to be the base for the entire album.

Q.What studio did you use to record the album?

The drums, bass, and Marc's guitars were all done at Overdub Lane Studios in Durham, NC. And all my shit was done at my house.

Q.Were all the songs written prior to going into the studio or did some take
shape while recording?

They were all written and ready to go. We don't really have the budget or the time to fuck around in the studio. I'm a pretty prepared character by nature.

Q.Was the writing process for the new album any different from the last?
The main change that has occurred with my songwriting is that I'm not doing it on acoustic guitar anymore. In fact all the songs on STAG were written on an electric. Although often not plugged in. This is a huge change for me. I had religiously written all the material on the past seven or eight albums on acoustic only. Even the noisy ones.

Q.What types of guitars did you use for recording?
All Les Pauls. For me and Marc. Gibson all the way.

Q.Did you write all the songs on this album as you did with the last or were there other contributors?

All me. All the time. Till death do us part. But everyone who played on the album most definitely were contributors. I'd leave the studio every night with Marc's guitar lines in my head.

Q. I hear that this was the first SOP album recorded without Sara Romweber on drums. Is that correct?

Oh yea. It was the first time I had ever recorded with S.O.P. or Clarissa without Sara.

Q.Who was the drummer on the sessions?
Mister John Howie Jr. on the STAG drums.

Q.What type of new dynamic did a different drummer bring to the recording of the album and the overall identity if any of the band?
Obviously I have nothing but love for Sara and you won't find a bigger fan of her drumming than me. But she chose to retire and the show must go on. John was perfect for this album. He brings a level of energy, abandon, and beautiful chaos that fit the material like a glove. It was inspiring and thrilling to have him represent.Sara has been playing on the selected gig recently.

Q.Will she be playing on the upcoming gigs in August?
I know she really wants to. And I know we really want her to. So if her schedule can swing it she'll be on board. It'll be a funny switch for her to have to learn material she didn't record.

Q.How do you compare STAG with Hyena?
STAG is my late seventies Aerosmith/Stones album. My interpretation of that music. It is slower, heavier and slabbed out. Much more groove and bottom than HYENA.

Q.Many people said Hyena was a continuation of "Dead Men" and a return to form for the band. Do you see STAG as the next chapter of the story?
Absolutely. Without question.

Q.Could you give us a run down of each track on the new album and a one or two sentence commentary on each song?
JUDAS: sets the tone for the entire album. distorted vox and maracas. that's the blueprint for STAG.
TOOTH: probably my favorite. the best guitar solo i've ever had on any album in my life and it's courtesy of Marc. a sinister tune with the line, " i really love your halo/ and i really love your tooth." also badass tortured guitars at the tail courtesy of me.
SNAKES: my choice for a single. the pop song of the album(!!). seventies Stones with a Duran Duran shout-out at the end.
DANCE: a strong fucking song. handclaps and Kevin Clark's fuzzed out bass driving over your face.
PAINTED GUN: "just a lap dog bait." a hypnotic tune.
STAG: the king of the slab. no questions, no prisoners. a demanding motherfucker.
STATION BLEED/NO STATION: still working on the title. Marc's choice for a single. not sure if the Stones should be paying me or i should be paying them for this one.
TEXAS: a brutal tune with goth eyes. a blind date gone good and bad.
THE APE: probably most proud of this one. EVERYONE stepped up bigtime on this track. the last word. curtain closed.Hyena featured two ballads "Acetate" and "The Last Invention" .

Q.Are there any found on the new record?
Not a one. Which I believe is a first for me in twenty years.

Q.You guys did a great cover of Bowie's "Moonage Daydream" on Hyena and are know to perform the various eclectic cover here and there during your live show. Are there any cover songs to be found on the new record?
Also not a one. Although I kinda wish we had recorded Billion Dollar Babies.Maybe next time.

Q.The last album was produced by SOP and mixed by yourself? Is it the same for the new record?
Even more so. This is the first time I produced and mixed 100% myself. Nobody's fault but mine.

Q.What positives/negatives do you find with producing and mixing the albumyourself?
The positive is it's as creatively challenging as it gets. Large doses of pressure. The negative is I don't get to be the moody, emotional, extremist motherfucker I am by nature. You gotta hold it all together when you don the producer cap. I'm sorta used to pulling it all apart.

Q.You are currently involved in another band, Marat, for which you contributemany of the songs. How do you balance your time between the two?
No balance. But I'm trying to get better at it. There is no confusion regarding my priorities. Not always pretty. But at the end of the day, more often than not, I do right by everyone.

Q.When is STAG scheduled to come out?
A question for the label. I'd imagine the top of 2005.

Q.What type of promotion will be put behind it's release?
Definitely a question for the label. You got the number.

Q.What songs off the new album will you be performing during your shows in August?
Every fucking one of them. We're playing the entire album from start
to finish. In order.

Q.Can fans expect to hear any songs off older albums such as "Send In The Clowns", "Dead Men", and "Bent With Pray"?
Only if they're playing their stereo. Loudly.