From the ashes of Sad Lovers & Giants, Snake Corps was the brainchild of Tristan Garel-Funk and Nigel Pollard. With the exit of Pollard, Marc Lewis was then recruited to do vocals. Though infused with atmospheric and brooding Cold Wave, Snake Corp ended up having a harder-edged post-punk sound than others in the genre.
Flesh on Flesh was their first album which was released in 1985 on the now-defunct Midnight Music label. After this album, keyboards were added along with a more rock-orientated sound. Five years later saw the release of their next album Smother Earth. A third album was slated to be released titled The 3rd Cup, but Snake Corps soon found themselves without a label since Midnight Music went into receivership. This last album was eventually released in 1993 as a CD-only title on the Ophidian label.
Though popular in continental Europe, Snake Corps never found much of an audience in their home U.K. or in the United States. That's a shame because Snake Corps is one of those rare groups that is remarkably consistent. The songs as a whole are catchy and wonderfully rhythmic with soaring, swirling guitars. For starters, I would get the best-of compilation titled Spice which is available as a CD only release. The LPs are harder (and expensive) to track down, but are worth the effort.
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