Fest 11

The Snips have never been a band known for their prodigious musicianship nor are they responsible for a plethora of material but what this quintet of crazy Canucks do pride themselves on is leaving it all on stage night in and night out with an incredibly honest and sincere delivery that peers and fans alike have been forced to take note of...and also...they party. Like, drink all your liquor kinda partying. After years of fighting the good fight, the band, Ricky Pridmore, Bart Breton, Tone Ventresca, Chris Accursi and Brent Fulop have finally come into their own and hit full stride with their new full-length record "Highs Of Low".

Two years removed from the release of 2009's "Blackouts" EP, the band have managed to completely shake things up once again in a fashion that has an all too inherent presence in The Snips camp. "Blackouts" was an EP containing big, bright, anthemic tracks like "Tired Tires" and "Black Leather Vest" which both boasted a healthy dose of Foo Fighter-ish punk that immediately becomes embedded in your mind for days. On "Highs Of Low", The Snips are aiming to catch your attention with an approach which greatly contrasts that of its predecessor.

Sonically, The Snips have definitely stepped out of the footprints of their contemporaries and relocated themselves in a much dirtier, unpolished and esoteric place and have procured the guidance of Dan Weston (City and Colour, Attack In Black, Living With Lions) to help achieve this feat. "Highs Of Low" doesn't stand in a different ballpark from "Blackouts" but does signify the band's continued growth and desire to genre-bend.

Sliding seamlessly from the garage fuzz comfort zone of "Blood Maps" to the grimy, at times white noise infused "Microscope" into the sombre, melancholy of "O' Brother" The Snips do truly take you through every peak and valley from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. With some good ol' fashioned songwriting and a complete disregard for parameters the five members of The Snips have a singular vision that they have dubbed indie-punk and can't wait to let it buck.