Columbus-based alternative rock band snarls presents its effervescent debut album, “Burst”, as a long-form video featuring visual storytelling from its members. May I Burst? invites you into the emotional rollercoaster that is...Burst. Snarls is what the Vivian Girls would be if they swapped their uber-cool Brooklyn insouciance for wide-eyed Midwestern verve. Snarls share their predecessors penchant for propulsive, kiss-off tempos, but infuse those licks with a wholesome earnestness. The Columbus, Ohio quartet’s songs hit hard, but there is a no-frills, steadfast nature to each track, with frontwoman Chlo White snapping out pieces of wounded prose. In an interview with Stereogum, White attributed the band’s name to the visceral reaction of a loyal dog — as in “don’t fuck with my friends or I’ll snarl at you.” Each song on the album contains that ethos. Snarls will proudly tell you how they feel.
Snarls spent 2019 quietly blooming. Two songs landed this Columbus, four-piece on Bloggers Top 100 Songs and Best New Bands honour rolls. With that running start in mind, 2020 is when they’ll surely blossom into a band to watch. Debut LP Burst finds the next charming coming-of-age story in shimmering character drama (2019 standout “Walk in the Woods”), woozy indie-pop (“Hair”), and blue-eyed existentialism (“Concrete”). Snarls’ song writing is as unfiltered and spectral as growing into one’s own should be, but it promises just as an enchanting listen for those outside looking in. It’s no wonder MTV tried to brand Snarls’ enchanting indie rock as promising “the best of emo and shoegaze” or that the band themselves sees themselves as the fore bearers of “glitter emo alt rock.” Snarls is fresh, frenzied, and worth fawning over.
Snarls is Chlo White (vocals, guitar), Riley Hall (bass, vocals), Mick Martinez (guitar), and Max Martinez (drums). The four met through childhood friendships and school, and in December 2017 formed the group. After releasing a self-titled EP in June 2018, snarls spent the next two years playing crowded basements and bars, as well as touring the Midwest and eastern United States. In March of 2020, the band partnered with Take This To Heart Records to release Burst, a collection of coming-of-age stories wrapped in shimmering guitars and whimsical harmonies.
