The Loop : The Snake The Cross The Crown - Mander Salis

The Snake The Cross The Crown - Mander Salis (2004)

I hate the times when I have to force myself to be actively interested in music. It's something that has been so ingrained in me for so long, yet I sometimes have to distance myself as my work and my hobby overlap each other and sometimes get to be overwhelming. Lately, I've been thinking that I have very few social skills outside of music.

Because of some of these times, I sometimes end up at shows and go through the motions of seeing a live band. The walk-on, the performance, the "hey nyc!" banter and expected encore. I've started to grow accustomed to showing up only for the band I'm there to see, which has probably locked me out of several really great bands that I didn't have the patience to stay and watch.

However, The Snake The Cross The Crown ended up being a band that I thankfully came to the show with an open mind and ended up loving right away. I went to see Manchester Orchestra in the summer of 2007 at The Old Brickhouse in downtown Phoenix (what a great venue, parking sucked though) They were opening for mewithoutyou and I wasn't sure when they'd go on, so I got there kind of early. I ran into a friend of mine, affectionately known as EmoChris, who told me I should TOTALLY pay close attention to this first band, because a lot of people had been talking about them.

I was blown away by the first note. They had an aura of timeliness to them, something I find in bands like The Decemberists and Mumford and Sons. They seem to tell stories that aren't necessarily specific to the 2000's and use language that suggests that the singer is singing vicariously through characters that exist in other time periods. They played a short set and ended with a song that I LOVED and made me want the CD right away. I immediately made my way to the merch table and talked a bit to I think the drummer (?), trying to buy the album that had that song (which turned out to be the song "On the Threshold of Eternity", which is now one of my all-time favorite songs) He convinced me to buy not only Mander Salis which had the song, but also their newest record Cotton Teeth. And hey, I got a free t-shirt for doing so! Win!

I spent a lot of time with those records together, taking a while to get them on my iPod and jamming them in the car. At that point I had started buying a lot of digital albums, so buying a physical album, especially at a show, felt really special. I took them with me on a road trip to California and they ended up on repeat for most of our trip because neither of us remembered to bring OTHER cds. Still, music is sometimes best experienced that way.

In fairness, I listened to them almost as a compilation of songs rather than two different album, but for the sake of space and time in this blog series, I pulled out Mander Salis, although as a comprehensive album, I like Cotton Teeth slightly better. I saw them play on my trip to New York City that summer, abandoning the headliner (whose album will end up in this series as well, d'oh!) because I loved their performance so much. This band was one of the most underrated bands I can remember and was a casualty of what I've started to find is a very lackluster record label. They sign amazing bands, but don't quite know how to market them, it's unfortunate and probably had much to do with this road-weary band's decision to fall off the map for a while. At this point, the band suggests that they are "too far apart" to continue touring, but doesn't cancel out the idea of coming together for an album soon. They recently released "On a Carousel of Sound We Go Round and Round", a full length documentary on the band which features several b-sides and looks stunning just from the trailer. (just purchased it tonight, actually)

I feel as though this is a band that I screamed and screamed about but no one listened. I know they're appreciated in pockets around the country, but it kills me that they don't get the recognition they deserve for some incredible music.

Trailer for "On A Carousel of Sound We Go Round and Round". It's sort of long, but embodies the band pretty accurately. Gives me chills.


And because I love this song, "On the Threshold of Eternity"