Sonny Vincent – Snake Pit Therapy

Sonny Vincent, the name alone doesn’t mean to much to some, but this is a man who has been hanging around the music scene for something like 50 years, most notably he played in the mid 70’s punk outfit The Testors, a band that flirted with fame, but ultimately were over shadowed by other CBGB’s upstarts like The Ramones and Blondie.  Having a need to create Punk Rock n Roll has never wained though, this I believe will be his 28th long player, all be it in various guises over the many decades.

Being that we are now getting on for 3 score of albums, what exactly do we get here, well its not as pure a punk as you might think, although the lead ‘Stick’ defiantly drags you back to a stooges moment, gnarly vocals that sound like they may have been recorded way back when in an NYC basement studio, sung over a catchy early punk style melody, from time to time throughout the album you are given a stark reminder of where Sonny came from, ‘The End Of Light’, ‘Never Tired’ and ‘Japan Mofo’ stand out in this vain.  Then there is the Iggy esque ‘Can’t Absorb’, a song that can only be described as a reflective moment tucked within a much more plethora of foreboding and pending doom that might be coming our way, ‘The Rain Is Black Again’ with a nod to this.

There is no doubt that Sonny has more Rock n Roll cred than you could shake a stick at, but it still cannot be easy to keep on giving without sometimes finding it hard to live up to the past, this album makes all the noises and slams in some belting rock belters, ‘Ruby Diamond’ is though, a diamond in the rough, a melting pot of up to the minute sounds, blended with the old school, to bring a concoction that hits heights this album keeps trying to reach.  Not totally sure where ‘Forest’ fits musically in this album, lyrically in knots in well, a triumph over adversity thing going on here (the adversity that fills the rest of the tracks), this song finishes more like it should have started for me. 

A true legend on the scene, a not so true legend of an album, yet there are so many pluses in here that should not be missed out on, just be brave.  The book by the same name could well be the real deal though.

Head over to Svart Records for a copy on Vinyl or CD

Connect with Sonny via his FACEBOOK