I just heard about this band not too long ago.
The new record Audit in Progress is bad ass. This is the only record i've heard from them so far.

I'm a big fan of Rocket From The Crypt...one of the band members is in it.

More punk/less ska sounding than the newer RFTC records.

If you never herad of them...check them out!

check out automatic midnight and suicide invoice before blowing a load over audit in progress. the first record's a little shaky because the songwriting's such a hodgepodge of stuff that john reis and rick forberg had laying around, but the second one was actually written specifically for hot snakes. both albums are serious, though.

john reis' name appears in my record collection more than any other (rocket from the crypt's my favorite band) and i thought audit in progress was a disappointment, but i'm told to maybe stick with it. we'll see... glad to see another hot snakes lover on-board.

Don't forgot about the incredible Drive Like Jehu, either. I could never get into RFTC - the horns just kill it for me.

Suicide Invoice is my favorite cd from them...
Drive Like Jehu is good too , Rome Plows is a great song...

...But I think my favorite song from them might be "Our Work Fills The Pews" off of Automatic Midnight...

Drive Like Jehu is a lot better though - check out "Yank Crime", if you haven't heard anything by them before. "Aloha" is a greater song than anything HSnakes have written yet, espec. anything on the new album...

yeah, drive like jehu's pretty good. when i saw hot snakes a few years ago, they covered "bullet train to vegas" and people were like "OH! MY! GOD!" two dlj members in hot snakes is probably as close as we'll ever see to a drive like jehu reunion.

the sultans are another rftc side project that i really like. they're more punk than any of the others. it's really raw and quick. either of their albums are worthwhile.

I still need to pick up an actual copy of Automatic Midnight, and the DLJ albums now that I've heard them.

I like Audit In Progress a little better than Suicide Invoice.

Rocket is one of my favorite bands. Can't tell you how many times I've played scream, dracula, scream! or the state of art is on fire. They put on a damn good show too.

I picked up the first two hot snakes albums for 10 bucks one day, but wasn't really into it, even though everyone who like rocket seems to like them as well. The guy's voice kind of bugs me. I'll give them another listen.

This thread has prompted me to put on the first Drive Like Jehu record.

I never could really get into Hot Snakes, and I never really tried with RFTC. Maybe I will someday.

If you do try to get into RFTC, you have to make sure you start on the right album, since they have some albums which are (in my opinion) terrible. Go for scream dracula scream, or group sounds. Or possibly the state of art is on fire -- it's an ep, and is a little heavier and has less horns than some of their other stuff.

Fancypants is wise in many ways. The first RFTC album is okay.

[quote="fancypants"]Rocket is one of my favorite bands. Can't tell you how many times I've played scream, dracula, scream! or the state of art is on fire.

Scream Dracula Scream is my favorite RFTC record.

Also, Cira: Now! is also a very good record. DITCH DIGGER is one of the best songs they ever recorded.

Scream Dracula Scream is the best album by them.

Another cool song from them is Lipstick (off of their self entitled record RFTC) very catch song with JUST enough horns to make the song.

Never really got into RFTC (the self titled album). In fact, I found it really disappointing. It came out about six months after I starting getting into Rocket and had been listening to them night and day, so naturally I was really stoked on a new album. I tried really hard to like it, but always found it lacking. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but RFTC is based on killer riffs, and the riffs on this album just seem to fall flat for me. There are a couple good tracks like "eye on you" but I mostly just disregard the album. I was really happy when they came out with group sounds -- it knocked my socks off.

Paint as a fragrance (first album) is really not worth listening to. The one redeeming quality is "velvet touch", which is only good because it is about a dry cleaners in san diego that has this big painting on the side of the building, which is a 70's style caricature of the owner with the words "THIS MAN WANTS TO CLEAN YOUR CLOTHES" underneath it. Which is awesome.