With the massive punk-pop explosion of the late '90s (
Green Day,
blink-182, etc.), many veteran acts were getting in on the singsongy' act. 1997 saw Lizzie Grey's
Spiders & Snakes take a stab at penning punk-pop tunes, as he enlisted the help of a pair of producers, Flipside Magazine's Martin McMartin and Epitaph Recording artists
the Humpers' Mark "Anarchy" Lee. Allegedly recorded and mixed in a mere two hours, 1997's
Astro Pop is certainly one of most "live" sounding of
Spiders & Snakes releases thus far, as evidenced by such selections as "Glamour Girls," "L.A. Jets '97," and a re-recording of the band favorite "Nuke the Sun." The stripped-down production certainly fits the material well (let's face it -- Grey's compositions won't be mistaken for prog rock any time soon), resulting in one of the better
Spiders & Snakes releases of their career. ~ Greg Prato