The Snuts – Burn the Empire

The West Lothian-hailing band The Snuts are back following a successful social media campaign and petitions with their own label Parlophone Records to bring forward the release of their latest album Burn the Empire. It is fitting, then, that this album should be so tinged with rebellious spirit.

The album kicks off with the eponymous opener Burn the Empire, a punchy, punk-infused anti-establishment track laced with a cacophony of chunky guitar riffs and the provocative furore of Jack Cochrane’s vocals. It sets the ground for a string of entries that follow, from Zuckerpunch – an irreverent take on privacy in the social media age that features zippy guitar lines, rattling percussion and closes with an excerpt from Mark Zuckerberg’s viral Senate hearings – to The Rodeo, a highlight that is scored with the album’s most infectious hook (“La-La-La-La-La-Olé”) and smacks of a festival anthem in the waiting. With heaps of adolescent energy and charm, it is sure to be a crowd favourite.

Amidst all the post-punk-styled rock tunes, The Snuts cut the album with lighter, pop-inspired tracks. More acoustic offerings like End of the Road – a bright-eyed and optimistic turn with poppy choral runs that is at its best with the guest appearance of Rachel Chinouriri’s bassy, saccharine vocals – and Knuckles – a colourful pop number that opens with choppy alt-rock guitar and is laden with sonically charged keys and skiffling percussive notes – stand tall. 

At other times, The Snuts career off into new territory entirely, such as with Cosmic Electronica, a disco-fused, spoken word rhythm that peaks with its electronic chorus (one can’t help to recall Intergalactic by The Beastie Boys) and somehow manages to not feel out of place on the album.

Burn the Empire is a chaotic selection of tracks, where acoustic, pop-fuelled sounds are balanced against weighty, punk-rock-themed entries. The Snuts thrive on this imbalance and dive head first with reckless abandon into the rich dichotomy of their latest release, where tonal shifts are commonplace and bolshie rock tracks mingle among gentler, pop tunes. The one consistent is Cochrane’s sharp vocals, full of youthful angst and flare, with a vocal attitude reminiscent of frontmen Black Francis (Pixies) and Pete Doherty (Libertines) that is as aggressive as it is self-assured. Burn the Empire is a defiantly eclectic record and a captivating style-blender; it’s hard not to be taken in by the West Lothian group, who it seems, have discovered a new depth to their sound.

Ronan Fawsitt

Burn the Empire is released on 30^th September 2022. For further information or to order the album visit The Snuts’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Zuckerpunch here: