Ceremonial Snips

How can doing something as simple as mixing hardcore’s urgency with ska’s inherent pogo and horn section sound as fresh as on the Ceremonial Snips’ debut EP? Fuck The Pain, Bring The Noise crams as much aggression as is humanly possible into 15 minutes. The basics of the Snips’ sound factors heavily into each track — pummelling drums and turgid metal guitar smash land-speed records as the band tears through the likes of "Feed The Fire” and "Ripped From My Heart.” What truly saves them from being just another Sum 41 clone is their treatment of the material. The horn section provided by Mike Podio, Chris Accursi and Eric "Slick Dick” is the glimmer of hope in each song and guides the group through their sonic nightmares particularly on "Multiply Is How I Die.” As a result, Fuck The Pain pulls away from hardcore’s typically bleak mindset and doom-saying and adds up to a new take on a 20-year-old idea. If the Ceremonial Snips represent the future possibilities of what hardcore could become, there could be a future after all.