The Snails

Songs From the Shoebox (Ideas for Housecrafts)

Fittingly, we’re a little slow to write about The Snails, but better late than never. This sporadic super-group is one we wish performed year-round. Donning Aaahh!!! Real Monsters-esque headdresses and featuring members of Future Islands, these eclectic critters are easy to instantly love. There’s the guttural croon-growl of FI front man Samuel T. Herring (aka “Sammy Snail”—each bandmate gets their own mollusk moniker) and the wave-riding riffs of bassist William Cashion (“Snailliam”). And of course there’s the sprightly saxophone, rolling-thunder drums, and true-grit garage guitar. Dubbed “AM radio reggae-pop,” the music straddles the line between raw punk, funky ska, and SoCal surf, and after a 2013 debut, the core quintet’s funky, feel-good follow-up is the sunny sound you’ll want to hear at all your rooftop parties, backyard barbecues, and sunburnt trips to the beach. They even include a couple of killer instrumentals, but for the foreseeable future, we’re listening to “Shoebox” on repeat.

See our Q&A with drummer Snailbraham (aka Abram Sanders) from The Snails.

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Brooks Long & the Mad Dog No Good

Mannish Boys (self-released)

Local soul musician Brooks Long has been bumping around Baltimore for a while now, performing his old-school sound everywhere from local venues like The 8×10 and Ottobar to large festivals like Artscape and Light City. We often find ourselves singing along to songs from his band’s first release, Let’s Make Out to Otis Redding, as if we’d known them forever. For that reason, it might come as a surprise that the young artist has just released his debut album, full of old standbys like “The Runaround” and “Heavy Petting,” as well as a swath of new favorites. The 15-track record is an upbeat feat, as Long flexes his musical muscles across full-on funk (“Playa Fantasy”), sweet soul (“Don’t Tell Nobody”), smoky blues (“Have You Been Getting Too High”), and boogie-woogie to boot (“Weapons on 65”). Best of all, he brings more friends along for the ride, including other beloved Baltimore talents like Bosley, J Pope, and Rufus Roundtree. As is true with all things Mad Dog No Good, you can’t give it a listen without wanting to learn the words and get up and dance.

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Nudie Suits

Summer Fun (Ehse Records)

We dig Nudie Suits. Last fall, the local duo released its first EP, which seemed to capture the unspoken, ordinary, human corners of its title season—summer. It was all there: the sluggish humidity of a hot afternoon (“Gotta b”); the ethereal skies of a full-moon night (“Mom song”); the raw rebellion of a cigarette-fueled teenage joyride (“laura Flynn”); the fluttering, fleeting rush of a July romance (“House cat”). Actually, vocalist Allison Clendaniel and violinist Ruby Fulton were inspired by the cult classic Twin Peaks, as well as art rock, repetition, opera, and outer space. But whatever the influence, the experimental Peabody grads have produced dreamy loops that reach into the crevices of your lows and highs, ranging in rhythm and tempo through stirring synth, dramatic vocals, and captivating compositional beats. It was the perfect combination for Annex Theater, which enlisted an original Nudie Suits score for its production of Flatland earlier this year. Offbeat and beautiful, these five tracks will weave their way into your warm-weather soundtrack.

After a sold-out spring tour and awesome new album from Baltimore super-group, The Snails, we talk with drummer Snailbraham (aka Abram Sanders) about the band’s beginnings, those awesome headdresses, and what makes one a mollusk. And catch them live tomorrow, May 21, at Ottobar.

Hey Snailbraham, sorry I’m a few minutes behind. Is now an okay time?
Yeah, for sure. Snails are always late.

How are you connected to all of the other Snails?
Well, I’m Snailbraham, the drummer of The Snails. I moved to Baltimore in 2008 to play with Jana Hunter, which led to Lower Dens, and then eventually moved onto other things, like Wing Dam. I just recently moved to San Diego.

And the rest of Wing Dam is following suit and moving to California soon, too?
Yeah, eventually. They’re coming out later this year, after our big tour.

We’ll miss you guys in Baltimore.
We’ll be through as much as possible.

So did The Snails get to know each other just from being a part of the local music scene?
I went to school with two members of The Snails, Sammy Snail [Sam Herring, also of Future Islands], and Snailliam [William Cashion, also of Future Islands and Peals], at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. They needed a drummer so I just picked up and starting playing with them. We don’t play that often, but we typically get together, write a few songs, and then go do a show, over the course of like, three days. Contrary to popular belief, that sort of turnover is relatively fast.

That’s quick for a snail.
Well, this record came from a weeklong tour we did a few years back. We were playing all of these songs and they got really familiar. Immediately afterwards, we took them into the studio at The Annex in Baltimore, and the foundation recording probably took place over two or three days, but then we let it sit. Once the time was right and we could all work on other projects, we finished the album and put it out earlier this year.

How did The Snails get their start?
The band really just came together from playing funky songs. In the beginning, in 2008, they were just covering Art Lord & the Self-Portraits songs, which was William and Sam’s thing from awhile back in North Carolina, and opened up for Spank Rock on his birthday in Baltimore. But the band would just get together, play some tunes, wear some snail heads, be snails. You know, slimy and grimy.

What makes someone a snail?
Slime, grime, attitude. Willingness to take things slow. The ability to see over every blade of grass, no matter how down you might be. Willingness to take off your shell when necessary. Thinking outside of the shell is a very important part of being a snail. Remembering where you came from . . .

Who makes the headdresses? Or, um, snail heads? I don’t know what the right terminology is.
They started as stockings, or panty hose, that were stuffed with some sort of foam, with drawn-on eyes by Sammy Snail. The more sophisticated ones that we wear today were actually handcrafted by Snailpril [April Camlin, of Wume, and former, still-sometimes drummer of The Snails]. We all went out and picked out fabric.

Are they hot?
Oh yeah, they get pretty grimy. They get pretty gross. Especially Sammy Snail’s. And mine. And if you wash them, they disintegrate, so they have to be repaired after each show.

What’s the songwriting process for the band?
It’s totally collaborative. We kind of just jam a little bit. We take notes on what sounds good and then just go with it. And we try to have as much fun as possible. We try not to take it too seriously, because it’s just not that kind of project. We value our craft, but we’re not going to come to fisticuffs artistically or push our shows too hard. We’ll embrace whatever we sound like. The band is an outlet for any kind of music we want to play. We can try out things we don’t necessarily showcase in our other projects.

Seems like you don’t need to push your shows too hard. Your tour was a big success.
It was a lot of fun. We don’t perform very often, so I think people wanted to come out and see a snail do their thing. The Baltimore show at Ottobar was probably the highlight—we’re playing there again on May 21. The venue is great, they have always been super nice to its performers, the show sold out, and all of our friends were there. It’s great to be in a place where people really love what you’re doing.

Baltimore loves its Baltimore bands. How is it coming home and performing here?
The city loves its music scenes. It loves rarities. It loves—I don’t want to call it art music but . . . I think the spectacle of [The Snails] is refreshing and nostalgic, and I think Baltimore is completely open to it. Everyone on stage just loves seeing people have a good time.

When you step off and unplug and the lights go down, do you remain snails, or do you go back to being Abram, Samuel, William, Andy [Abelow], and Drew [Swinburne]?
I’d say it’s 100-percent snail attitude, all of the time. If we’re together, we’re snailing it out.