We Became Snakes

Saccharine Trust

Rate It! Avg: 3.5 (28 ratings)

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Album Information
EDITOR'S PICK

Artist: Saccharine Trust (See All Albums by Saccharine Trust)
Genre: Rock/Pop, Style: Commercial Alternative
Label: SST Records / The Orchard

Total Tracks: 9 Total Length: 37:46

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Eat My words

TheodoreJackson

I remember when this was released. As a young, lunkheaded punk kid, I made a negative comment about the record on a local college station, preferring the early "paganicons" era ST to this. I ran into Jack a few weeks later (who was a constant listener) and he called me on it. Sent me backtracking with my tail between my legs. But it is how I felt at the time. Many years later, I have finally caught up with the visionary collective then (and sometimes still) known as Saccharine Trust and the album I could not get my head around is now in my top 20 of all time. Good music should challenge you..take some effort..and when it ultimately takes hold, you never want to release it. This is an album that, ultimately, you never want to release.

An SST wild card.

conorbendle

It's funny, the people most likely to buy this - hardcore SST fans who swear by Black Flag and Husker Du - are the ones least likely to appreciate it. It sounds a little like the Minutemen's 'Car Jams' extended to ten times their length, but really the closest comparison is to classic jazz rock outfits like The Mahavishnu Orchestra. The singing and guitar playing are equally firey, and the whole record has a kind of seductive late-night car ride ambience. A real lost treasure, and heartily recommended to curious prog rock fans looking for something different.

sst weirdness

SonicTooth

a band that from the start left me scratching my head for the majority of my teenage years back when I'd take a chance on most of the SST roster, and before the sheer quantity of releases became too daunting (and of suspect quality) i saw them open for Black Flag on the Slip It In tour in 1984 and Saccharine Trust completely scared the s*** out of me. took a few years and an appreciation of more experimental type rock and jazz to revisit and fully appreciate what ST were up to. really doesn't sound like anything else, then or now. Would agree that Surviving you Always is the best album (and very curious that it is not available here, as it came after Pagan Icons and before all the others) whatever, if you're an adventurous sort any of their albums are worth a listen. Baiza is a mind boggling guitarist...

Meh.

eisenfaust

This is not their best album. Not by a long shot. In fact, it's their weakest. The vigor and intensity just plainly aren't there. Get "Worldbroken," get "PaganIcons," hell, if you can find a copy of "Surviving You, Always" get IT, it's a friggin' masterpiece, but whoever decided that "Snakes" was a "pick" has ears full of rotting shit.

What More Imprimatur Do You Need?

EricDolphy

If "All the punks on the scene hated it..." then it's a must-own. Most of the punks on the scene hated anything that challenged their totally rigid notions of what punk or hardcore was or should be. The dirty secret of the "good old days" is how unwilling the Docs and Green Mohawk crowd was to let anyone but themselves be different. Yeah, I remember when people hated the Minutemen cause they weren't hard enough. Ask those crusty old punks what they think now and get ready to hear a load about how they loved the Minutemen before anyone else had even heard of them. At least this album was trying to stretch things instead of feed whiny baby the same old three chord gruel.

reptilian masterpiece

vajramedea

Wank all you want, this album is intense, compelling and totally original. Jack Brewer weds an apocalyptic old testament sensibility with erotism and the improvisational genius of Joe Biaza, a f*&*in' great and totally underrated guitarist. The greatest Saccharine Trust album is without a doubt SURVIVING YOU ALWAYS, but it's sadly out of print. That's for the acid punks, this one's for the snake tribes that coiled out of the garden of eden. Listen to The Redeemer - what a great song and story. Listen to Effort to Waste. If you like Patti Smith and Birthday Party, oddly enough you could like this. Kudos to eMusic for getting Saccharine Trust up here finally - I for one am psyched. Put a We Became Snakes bumper sticker right next to your Eve Was Framed one on the back of your transportation.

gimme a @%#*!& break!

CrystalClear

I remember our fiendish friends Saccharine Trust from a time when it wasn't too cool to be a punk and we were still getting our asses beat because of it. When 'Pagan Icons' came out...we flipped out...because these guys were whining with conviction! When 'We Became Snakes' came out...some of us vomitted...some of us destroyed the record...all of the punks in the scene hated it. Need I say more?

Free Jazz Meets SST Punk

Grover

This is an excellent and adventurous album. The sound is thick mid-tempo SST style punk with a lot of free jazz and improvisational tendencies. Fairly unique sound and still sounds relevant (actual release year is 1986).

wow.

Juggernaut667

I'm shocked by how much I really dislike this album. I've never had a negative physical reaction to music before, but I just can't find anything decent about this record.

This is a pick?

TechnoTrousers

I've been an eMusic member for eight months now, and I've formulated a theory. The "Pick" icon is just randomly assigned to a new album once every week or so. Do yourself a favor, don't rely on eMusic picks to find songs to download. Your best bet is to devote a couple of hours a week, and for the genres you like, listen to all the new additions for that week.

Recommended Albums

They Say All Music Guide

Sharp, tuneful, but retaining the ragged dissonance of their earlier records, We Became Snakes is probably the Saccharine Trust record to own. Produced by Mike Watt, Snakes is the most coherent and focused of the Trust discography, but that in no way means it’s significantly less adventurous, rigorously demanding, or fun. Perhaps due to Watt’s presence, the rhythm section sounds beefed up and keeps the rest of the band in line, but never puts a stranglehold on the possibilities inherent in free improvisation. Not exactly what you’d call a groovefest, Snakes is the best place to get a taste of what Saccharine Trust was up to. – John Dougan

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