The Deadly Snakes were a Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band influenced by

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

, and early R&B.

History

Formed in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 1996, the band's final line-up consisted of André Ethier on vocals and guitars, Matthew Carlson on guitar,

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and bass, Chad Ross on guitar, bass and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, Jeremi Madsen on guitar, bass,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, Max McCabe-Lokos (using the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

''Age of Danger'') on

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, organ and percussion, and Andrew "Gunn" Moszynski on guitar and

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s. Earlier versions of the band included Carson Binks (now of San Francisco's Genghis Khan) on saxophone, and - at different times - Yuri Didrichsons, James Sayce (both later of Toronto-based indie band

Tangiers Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capit ...

) and Randy Ray on bass.

Greg Cartwright Greg Cartwright, also known by his stage name Greg Oblivian (born March 18, 1972), is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Memphis, Tennessee. From 2001 to 2022 he fronted Reigning Sound which was signed to Merge Records. After m ...

, of

The Oblivians The Oblivians are an American garage punk trio that has existed since 1993. In the 1990s, their blues-infused brand of bravado, crudely recorded music made them one of the most popular and prominent bands within the underground garage rock scene ...

and

The Reigning Sound Reigning Sound was an American rock and roll band originally based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States As of 2019, along with fronting Reigning Sound, Cartwright also reformed his past band Greg Oblivian and the Tip Tops. In 2020, he also refor ...

, produced the band's first two albums. He briefly joined The Deadly Snakes, playing guitar and singing several songs on the album ''I'm Not Your Soldier Anymore'', and touring as a member of the band in support of that album. Originally formed as a one-off band for a friend's birthday party, the Snakes kept performing together and soon became a popular draw on Toronto's live music scene. After releasing several 7" singles, the Deadly Snakes released their full-length debut album, ''Love Undone'', in 1999 on the

Sympathy for the Record Industry Sympathy for the Record Industry (also known as Sympathy Records or Sympathy 4 the R.I.) is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by Long Gone John. The first Sympathy release was the Lazy Cowgirls' ''Radio Cowgirl'' LP ...

label. The band toured both Canada and internationally, and released three further albums via In the Red Records. Their 2005 single "Gore Veil", from the album ''Porcella'', was named the fifth best song of the year by

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which lanuc ...

. The album ''Porcella'' was subsequently shortlisted for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize. The Deadly Snakes announced their amicable breakup in August 2006, and played their last show on August 26, 2006 at the Silver Dollar Room. In September 2009, rumours of a full-fledged reunion began to circulate following the announcement of a one-off reunion show at the free-of-charge Scion Garage Fest on October 17 in Portland, Oregon. Ethier has released numerous albums as a solo artist. He is also a painter whose work has been exhibited internationally. Ross and Gunn formed the band

Quest for Fire ''Quest for Fire'' may refer to: * '' The Quest for Fire'', a 1911 novel by J. H. Rosny * ''Quest for Fire'' (film), a 1981 film adaptation of the 1911 novel * "Quest for Fire", a song by Iron Maiden from 1983's ''Piece of Mind ''Piece of Min ...

, who released their self-titled debut on

Tee Pee Records Tee Pee Records is an American independent rock music record label in New York City, prominent for releasing music by Sleep, Witch, Graveyard, Earthless, High on Fire and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. It has housed many stoner rock bands. Rost ...

in 2009. McCabe-Lokos is an actor and filmmaker who has appeared in ''

Land of the Dead ''Land of the Dead'' (also known as ''George A. Romero's Land of the Dead'') is a 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by George A. Romero; the fourth of Romero's six '' Living Dead'' movies, it is preceded by ''Night of the Li ...

'', ''

Lars and the Real Girl ''Lars and the Real Girl'' is a 2007 romantic comedy-drama film written by Nancy Oliver and directed by Craig Gillespie. It stars Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, and Patricia Clarkson. The film follows Lars (Gosling) ...

'', and ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

''.

Discography

* ''Love Undone'' (

, 1999) * ''I'm Not Your Soldier Anymore'' ( In the Red, 2001) * ''

Ode to Joy "Ode to Joy" (German language, German: , literally "To heJoy") is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in ''Thalia (magazine), Thalia''. A slightl ...

'' (In the Red, 2003)"A Completely Biased Ranking of the 60 Best Canadian Indie Rock Songs of the 00s Part II"
''Vice'', Cam Lindsay Apr 10 2017 * '' Porcella'' (In the Red, 2005)

References

External links

2006 article about the band and its demise
from NewYorkNightTrain.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Deadly Snakes, The Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Canadian indie rock groups Musical groups from Toronto Garage punk groups Sympathy for the Record Industry artists Paper Bag Records artists 1996 establishments in Ontario 2006 disestablishments in Ontario Canadian garage rock groups In the Red artists

History

Discography

See also

References

External links