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Altered States of the United Snakes (AS*US) “Executive Suites” EP
If I gave this a blind listen, I’d probably guess that it’s a Columbus, Ohio release. I’m not sure what that says except maybe that there is some groupthink going on among the city’s musicians. On this demo, AS*US have the following going for them: great color copied collage artwork, endearingly sloppy hand-written notes (lyrics, I think, but the emphasis here is in the slop), and the music has its moments—“Radio. Tape. Deck.” and “Coat of Arms” stand out. But the highlights are buried among the unnecessarily long jams that dominate the disc and make listening a chore. The twelve minute “Executive Suites” is particularly painful and the twenty-four minute live set at the end blends into a single, unmemorable track (even the reprised versions of songs that I like from the studio material drag here).(DH)
(self-released // myspace.com/unitedsnakes)