Review / 200 Words Or Less
These Arms are Snakes / Tropics
Split

We-Be (2008) Michael

These Arms are Snakes / Tropics – Split cover artwork
These Arms are Snakes / Tropics – Split — We-Be, 2008

Here we have another limited edition split 7", this one that was issued in support of These Arms are Snakes and Tropics European tour together. You get one exclusive track from each artist.

These Arms are Snakes offer up "Meet Your Major," which is very much in tune with the band's latest full-length offering, Tail Swallower and Dove. You get driving rhythms and thick basslines. The guitars are angular and compliment the rhythm secion well. And of course there are Steve Snere's typical yelled shouts to match the coarseness of the music. All in all, it's what we've come to expect from the post-hardcore outfit.

Tropics, on the other hand, are new to me. Hailing from the U.K., this four-piece delivers "Future Gets Tense," a post-punk inspired rock number that had me recalling At the Drive-In. The guitars had a bit of a Swami-esque thing going on too. Pretty solid stuff.

A nice slab of wax from one of my favorite bands going and something new from a band I'd yet to encounter. Limited to only 500 copies, if you're a fan of either group I suggest grabbing a copy while they are still available.

8.0 / 10Michael • April 3, 2009

These Arms are Snakes / Tropics – Split cover artwork
These Arms are Snakes / Tropics – Split — We-Be, 2008

Recently-posted album reviews

Nicole Alexis

Mirrors & Smoke
Independent (2026)

There’s a fine line between stripped down music and so stripped back that is sounds empty. On Mirrors and Smoke, Nicole Alexis lands comfortably on the right side of that line, delivering a debut EP that leans into simplicity without losing its emotional weight. Built around acoustic arrangements and minimal production, the EP feels intentionally close. It feels like these … Read more

The Remote Controls

Too Tough
Fail Harmonic Records, Mom’s Basement Records (2025)

There’s a certain kind of punk band that doesn’t overthink things. No reinvention, no genre-bending manifesto, just fast songs, big hooks, and enough attitude to carry it all. Indianapolis’ The Remote Controls lean hard into that tradition on Too Tough, a record that feels less like a statement and more like a well-earned victory lap. Built on a steady diet … Read more

Sahan Jayasuriya

Don’t Say Please: The Oral History of Die Kreuzen
Feral House (2026)

For those of us who spent the mid-to-late 1980s navigating basement community halls, churches, and loveable, armpit-smelling dive bars, the name Die Kreuzen was a permanent fixture on the punk rock radar. They were the sound of the Midwest underground --too fast for the goths to do their spooky Bela Lugosi "shoo the bats away" interpretive dance, too technical for … Read more