CRLSS
Snag sounds as good on their record as they do live and i appreciate that on a high level. Anyone can mix their shit to perfection, add all kinds of instrumentation etc..then be unable to execute their own songs live. snag is not that band. they take the first swing on their official sophomore release Death Doula, which i feel is not only a huge statement but also a realm they allow you to enter. as though they have the truth and if you listen close enough they’ll whisper it in your ear.
Favorite track: Weathervane.
Includes unlimited streaming of Death Doula
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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Hex Candle
Snag x Slow Burn Collection
Handcrafted in Milwaukee, WI
Beeswax hexagonal pillar candle
20 hour burn time
2.5" x 2"
This item ships with a download code for Death Doula.
Text on the back of this shirt is Death Doulas of the Apocalypse by Sevan Arabajian-Lawson, whose poem strings this album together.
What if I told you that you decided to be here? That you chose to come to this world, to be exactly who you are at exactly this time? What sort of expansion does that allow your closing, anxious chest to explore? How does your heart drop or lift at the idea that there is something more?
What does it mean to allow space rather than hold it, just let it be there, non grasping, just witnessing and flowing.
I propose this: That we have learned through lifetimes of trauma and troubles, joy and creation to find rhythm in uncertainty. Every single moment brought us here, to this terrifying precipice overlooking the unknown. But, before the leap, we must say our goodbyes, for we are the way-makers, the doulas of the apocalypse inviting the medicine of mourning, the power of pure unbridled expression, and the magick of shamelessly calling into existence our wildest desires. Let us dare not cling to a dying world. Let it be devoured and transformed into new life so we may end with grace and begin with courage, to mourn, embrace, and ignite the radical fires of unrelenting love.
...more
Give me a feeling that I cannot purchase
I need a moment of enormous bliss
your eyelashes like raindrops
A tempest against my neck
Our love is a conspiracy
Our bodies are a mutiny
Death is permanent like plastic trees
I want to live outside my body
When was the last time you felt the sun on your face?
When was the last time you looked up at the trees?
When was the last time you heard laughter?
When was the last time you weren’t misplaced?
And when our hands crack
From breaking down barriers
Bandages bind wounds
From the bold and the brave
A friendly smile can save a life
A warm heart can melt a million cold souls
There’s knots in our stomachs
wait for someone to untie
But it takes a community
To loosen the strings
There is a nothingness//There is an emptiness
I feel shifting//I feel nothing
Tell me a story where
We aren't ashamed
To kiss our friends
Who feel despair
Where we aren’t ashamed
of the clothes we wear
Where we are fearless
And transcendent
I feel shifting
But nothing's changing.
I cannot leave now.
I cannot breathe now.
Everything we love you see as ugly.
Fearless, Transcendent
I feel shifting
But nothing's changing
The seasons are skipping
And where have you been?
I have two dimes
Double sided
Lets bet on our lives
Was it worth it?
Death Doulas of the Apocalypse by Cat Arabajian-Ries
What if I told you that you decided to be here? That you chose to come to this world, to be exactly who you are at exactly this time? What sort of expansion does that allow your closing, anxious chest to explore? How does your heart drop or lift at the idea that there is something more?
What does it mean to allow space rather than hold it, just let it be there, non grasping, just witnessing and flowing.
I propose this: That we have learned through lifetimes of trauma and troubles, joy and creation to find rhythm in uncertainty. Every single moment brought us here, to this terrifying precipice overlooking the unknown. But, before the leap, we must say our goodbyes, for we are the way-makers, the doulas of the apocalypse inviting the medicine of mourning, the power of pure unbridled expression, and the magick of shamelessly calling into existence our wildest desires. Let us dare not cling to a dying world. Let it be devoured and transformed into new life so we may end with grace and begin with courage, to mourn, embrace, and ignite the radical fires of unrelenting love.
about
"It's still raw, harsh, basement screamo, but Snag sneak a little arena-sized ambition in there too. It's a chaotic, constantly shapeshifting song, and underneath all the abrasiveness are some bright, gorgeous melodies that sound like they're trying to claw their way out."
- BROOKLYN VEGAN
"Milwaukee screamo band Snag do not mess around. “Jar Spell” is fast-paced and furious, as if every band member is racing to finish the song first. Lyrics like “I need a moment of enormous bliss/ Your eyelashes like raindrops/ A tempest against my neck” mean Snag likely aren’t for everyone but, should you be willing to take the plunge, there’s a world of enjoyment ready to burst out of your speakers."
- THE FADER
"Snag say their music is inspired by climate anxiety, and yeah, their new Death Doula certainly sounds like the world coming to an end. The Milwaukee band plays a chaotic but loosely poppy form of screamo, usually harsh and bombastic but littered with melody. Early single “Heirloom” even sounds like it has some orchestral drama working for it, while my colleague Tom Breihan pointed out that “the guitars slash and twinkle at the same time” on opener “Jar Spell.”
The album is out today, and the rest of it delivers similar thrills. Central interlude “Next Morning” is the kind of solemnly pretty brass instrumental you’d expect to hear on a mid-aughts release by Beirut or Sufjan Stevens, yet it leads into the hellishly aggressive “Weathervane.” It’s an album that constantly shifts shape and never holds back, even when not holding back means going soft for a moment between frantic outbursts."
- STEREOGUM
"There is a convincing sense of catharsis that emits from Milwaukee screamo outfit in Snag. The band’s sophomore effort, Death Doula, captures on record the existential anxiety that can only result from watching the environmental slow burn that our collective society is currently living through. The real life peril at the core of the music, coupled with the band’s nuanced brand of measured audio abrasion, makes for an especially compelling addition to the subcategory...Snag is good shit. Scary as all hell when you read between the lines to understand where it came from, but good shit nonetheless."
- KNOTFEST
"Snag play through an impressive array of dynamic turns across this new record, from the simmering atmosphere that closes album opener “Jar Spell” to the frenetic leaps of follow-up track “Heirloom.” The dynamic variety helps the more physically impactful segments land with an extra sense of emotional urgency."
- NEW NOISE
Milwaukee’s Snag came from crisis and anxiety. Environmental, economic, existential-- their music represents the full-throated terror of living in a world that seems to have no regard for its own future. Incubating throughout 2016 and bursting into screaming life in early 2017, Snag perform a particularly visceral form of screamo that plays heavily with the more atmospheric, post-rock side of the genre, incorporating disparate instruments like violin, cello, and trumpet as well as anxious interludes and build-ups while never sacrificing the immediacy and kinetic catharsis at the heart of their sound.
Built around the base of guitarist Sam Szymborski, bassist Peter Murphy, and drummer Bryan Wysocki-- all of whom contribute vocals in a communal soup of despair and hope-- Snag has shared the stage with many influential and legendary acts since their formation, including Jeromes Dream and Majority Rule, as well as like-minded peers such as Portrayal of Guilt, For Your Health, and Infant Island. Since self-releasing their first EP, Snag has worked with forces both local and international to evolve their sound and consistently release boundary-pushing new material: a split record with fellow Milwaukeeans Social Caterpillar; Canada’s Zegema Beach Records facilitating a split with New Zealand’s Swallows Nest; and most recently, an LP co-released by Zegema Beach, Indiana’s Middleman Records, and Dasein Records out of Copenhagen; and their debut self-titled full-length in November of 2019, which represented a manifesto-like summation of and expansion upon everything they had already sonically accomplished thus far.
Now, after a year spent in quarantine as a result of destructive and ineffective leadership, Snag is preparing to release their sophomore full-length, Death Doula. The record is the culmination of all the lessons Snag has consistently taught themselves over the course of their career; songs are stuffed to the gills with dynamic build-ups and unpredictable structural twists, and yet every song maintains a tightly-constructed sense of purpose. The production positively sings; drums crack, guitars screech and swirl, and the bass work is so beautifully and fluidly melodic, lending each song a sense of clever complexity without sacrificing accessibility, weight, or passion.
Every song on Death Doula feels meticulously and lovingly crafted, from the sudden downtuned thudding and deathly growls of standout “Heirloom” to the angular and violently eerie wall of sound that is “Weathervane.” Every member of Snag is operating at peak capacity and perfectly in tandem with each other; Murphy’s energetic, melodically nimble bass work melds perfectly with the technical precision of Wysocki’s drumming, while Szymborski’s guitar work alternately provides memorable riffs and unsettling atmospherics. The entire soupcon is augmented by all three members’ frantic, collaborative approach to vocals, resulting in a listening experience that is as chaotic as it is cathartic and life-affirming.
Lyrically, too, Death Doula represents an even greater step forward for Snag, as a hopeful yet aggressive sense of poeticism bleeds through in every track (except for the gorgeous instrumental “Next Morning”)-- on “Heirloom,” the band proposes that “A friendly smile can save a life,” while “Prairie Thistle” declares that “to suffer is to exist/Persist in defiance.” There’s no mistaking that at the heart of Snag’s music is a desperation for community, for salvation, and for the hope that working together can provide us all with a brighter future.
Death Doula is the result of everything Snag has spent the last five years warning us about coming true. Snag evokes the tension of being an active and informed individual in today’s self-destructive world in every way. “It’s your choice,” they say. “I tried to tell you.”
– Ellie Kovach
credits
released July 2, 2021
Death Doula was recorded on December 10th and 11th in the year 2020 by Shane Hochstetler at Howl Street Recordings in Milwaukee. It was mastered by Jack Shirley at the Atomic Garden. John Larkin plays trumpet, Eliah Koerner plays violin, Cat Arabajian-Ries uses their voice throughout. Peter Murphy plays bass, Samuel Szymborski plays guitar, and Bryan Wysocki plays drums. Each of the latter three use their voice.
Order Death Doula LP + Merch
USA https://middlemanrecords.bandcamp.com
CANADA/NORTH AMERICA https://zegemabeachrecords.bandcamp.com
Toronto band Respire deliver a post-hardcore tour de force on the largest scale possible, orchestrally rich and incessantly uncompromising. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 6, 2021
