Out of all the exciting releases out this month, “Party is Over, Pornostar” by local post-punk three piece Snapline is one of my favorites. Distributed by the newly established Beijing indie label Maybe Mars (headed by D22 mastermind Michael Pettis and local post-punk hero Yang Hai Song of PK14), the record can be found in local record shops like The Sugar Jar and Freesound, as well as at D22 and various other live music bars.
The band, formed nearly two years ago out of the dredges of a side project (two of the members also play in Carsick Cars) have been garnering praise since their inception and is one of the fastest rising new talents in the country. In the ever so incestuous climate of today’s Beijing indie rock scene, it’s especially easy to wear your influences on your sleeve and copy what everyone else is doing, yet Snapline have managed to take the unbeaten path to a sound all of their own.
Recorded over two short days in October 2006 at the Hi End Studios in Beijing and produced by Martin Atkins of Ministry, Pigface and Invisible Records fame, the album clocks in at just over 40 minutes in length and is a refreshing mix of punk rock naivety and freshness that features a surprising number of dancey rock n’ roll tracks with a distinctively post-industrial pop undertone. The album manages to sound at once familiar and modern and the frenzied, agitated yet still very organized calm captures the essence of the band’s live performances.
In an interview with City Weekend Magazine, lead singer Chen Xi is eager to talk about the differences between their live and recorded sets. “Martin is a great producer” he says, “The songs on the album have richer elements and has a more accurate balance. Still, in our live shows we have more passion and noise and there are more random things that happen.”
Xi, who wears stylish red horn rimmed glasses and can be found onstage wearing equally stylish digs, has the vocal stylings reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, or maybe more flatteringly Damo Suzuki of Can, He is a soft spoken yet charismatic front man who’s confidence and stage presence seems to grow in bounds with each passing month. He recalls being extremely nervous during his time in the studio, drinking bottles of water and praying that he didn’t stress out his vocal chords. “It was my first time in the studio and I didn’t know that we’d have to take our shoes off,” he says. “I felt really lucky that I was wearing socks without any holes in them! Our guitarist and bass player had to trample their pedals with slippers!”
In the next month, the band expects to take their show on the road, touring Shanghai, Chengdu and Nanjing and looming in the future are rumors of an American tour with Martin Atkin’s own project, the superstar industrial rock group Pigface. See them promote their new album this Thursday at Mao Live in a double bill with Carsick Cars!
Tags: , beijing music scene, carsick cars, chinese bands, d22, mao live, martin atkins, maybe mars, party is over pornostar, snapline, snapline new album
