by Benjamin Joe
Photograph by Benjamin Joe
Jimmy Collis, Declan Ryan, Steve Layman, Tony Cashaw and Bill Holtz make up ‘Snakeland.’
Perusesr of bandcamp or longtime Buffalo music fans may have been aware that the band “Snakeland” had released its first single, “Dragging Out Stars,” for their full-length album.
Called “Panamerican!”, the band will be playing at the Cave on July 15 to celebrate its release.
The official date of the release of “Panamerican!” is July 14 when they’ll be playing in the Abilene Bar & Lounge in Rochester.
Photograph by Benjamin Joe
Drummer Steve Layman bemoans missing the spare. Layman’s trip back to New York was the basis of the band’s single, ‘Dragging Out Stars.’
Taken with a little laughter, the “dad rock” tag on the bandcamp website is a joke, say members of the band, but it’s only too fitting. The age average checks out with demographical data. If they aren’t dads, then they should be.
Numbers don’t lie, but to be fair, neither does “Snakeland.”
Instead, the five piece puts out a bleary eyed, honest hangover of album with all the heavy hitting riffs and beats of a late-night bender’s gallant charm with ironic sidebars in the vocal arrangements. A little big punk rock, a little big alt-country. All Buffalo.
And the dad rock label to laugh at death.
Guitarist Jimmy Collis was the instigator of the band’s creation. He seemed surprised when asked how he got the band together.
“The idea for the band came to me in 2020, during COVID shutdown,” he said. “Got bored. Started buying guitars.”
Collis knew Tony Cashaw, the lead vocalist, and Declan Ryan, also a guitarist. He called them up with the idea.
“I don’t even think I called them,” he said. “I just bumped into them one day and said, ‘Let’s start a band,’ and they were like ‘OK.’”
The band picked up Bill Holtz, who did not know bass, but quickly learned, and Steve Layman, a drummer who penned the lead single’s lyrics based on his recent trip back to New York after living for years in Pennsylvania.
“It’s like a short story of his life, recently. He had to get out of there and it was good,” Cashaw said, noting he gets the sentiment. He said Layman was feeling nostalgic.
As the keeper of vibes, Cashaw talked about his relationship with the rest of the band, being a vocalist for words that he doesn’t necessarily have a say in.
“I work on every song,” Cashaw said. “I don’t always sing what they write, because I can be pushy and I have to say it — I don’t think the chorus they have on there is what he intended for the chorus, (but) people are going to understand this part of it the most and I’m going to say that often.”
Cashaw laughed as he spoke of his own musical upbringing.
“So, when I was a child I was tortured by my father and he made me sing in this religious organization, called church,” he said — tongue-in-cheek. “And it was every weekend!
“And we had to go to practice! And I didn’t want to do it, but we did it, and I guess I got through it and got older and moved out and then I couldn’t stop doing it.”
And thank the gods for that.
Cahaw’s vocal style fits in easily for all ten tracks of the release with more than a little of the power one might find listening to a choir. The interesting thing is how he works around the instrumental frequencies spinning and darting around the soundscape of his voice.
In a word, and what every member of the band agrees with more-or-less is that “Snakeland” is about doing the music right — the first time.
“The album is about being a middle-aged punk rock dad, but we didn’t say that outright because that isn’t too sexy,” Cashaw said. “If you just pay attention and squint your eyes at the lyrics, you’ll get it.”
Ryan, 34, also chimed in — saying that, all jokes aside, the five guys were reliving exactly what they wanted when they first started their musical careers and were playing in bands, setting up house parties and making friendships that survived the years.
“This is funny, because when we tried to do this during the appropriate age to be in a band that sounds like this, we weren’t nearly as good,” Ryan said. “Now we’re doing this for real, but there’s some humor to the fact that we’re all older.”
If the release of “Panamerican!” seems too far away, the band encourages that potential fans take-a-look at their first video, which was set up in a basement, a classical piece of architecture that every music lover in Buffalo has located on their radar, one time or another, and take a listen to “Trust Falls.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sytxP-sJwec)
“We wanted to put something out there that we’re proud of making and that no one else is doing and make sure it’s fully cooked before bringing it to the table,” Ryan said.
Buffalo Music Players 