State Drugs – Parade of Red Flags LP – Green Vinyl

Snappy Little Numbers (2023)

State Drugs are another band that I’m not entirely positive I would have heard if not for them putting out records on Snappy Little Numbers. It’s certainly possible, but them being part of a label that I already was super into served them up to me on a silver platter. I’ve been listening to them for a few years now and was thrilled when their second proper full length, Parade of Red Flags, showed up in the mail.

Every time I write about them, I can’t help but compare them to Unwelcome Guests or Nude Beach. That’s because those are the two bands I always think of that best exemplify the strain of earnest, rootsy rock and roll that State Drugs is playing. There’s a lot of average, midwestern rock made by bands that collectively own two Tom Petty CDs. But State Drugs, Unwelcome Guests and Nude Beach are three bands that just take it a step further and manage to create songs that sound fresh and exciting, even if the influences are tried and true.

Red Flag Parade is probably the best State Drugs album to date. I really enjoyed their last one Live. Laugh. Love. And their singles comp Takings & Leavings is just crammed full of hits. However, Red Flag Parade is their most consistent record, start to finish. Every song is great and each one fits as part of a larger album feeling. I feel like I’m saying this a lot lately, as 2023 was certainly stacked towards the end as far as good albums being released, but this is one of the better albums of the year. I fully expect it to be on my end of the year list, which terrifyingly enough, I really need to get working on.

State Drugs – Parade of Red Flags:
https://snappylittlenumbers.bandcamp.com/album/parade-of-red-flags

State Drugs / Zephr - Split 7" - Muddy Green Vinyl

Snappy Little Numbers (2022)

This is a split 7" containing one song each by State Drugs and Zephr, two bands that have also released full length albums on Snappy Little Numbers.  I was pretty excited when this showed up in the mail as I was a fan of each band's prior albums and I've long said how the split 7" has historically been one of my favorite formats.  Though it's certainly not as common an occurrence as it was back in the 90s.

State Drugs has a rootsy, Tom Petty, Nude Beach sort of vibe, but with vocals that really cling more to a melancholy feeling than the more upbeat nature of a Petty.  "Mr. Untitled" is built on a dark guitar and bass sound that is very heavy on low end.  That's then peppered with bright lead guitar riffs.  Once the vocals come in, things can feel a little dour to be honest, but the backing vocals help make the song veer into more uplifting territory.

Zephr feels like they have really slowed things down since the last time I heard them.  Whereas on their last album I thought they would fit in good with the early 2000s No Idea crowd, this time they've dialed things back considerably.  "Landline" doesn't strike me as the quintessential contribution to a split 7".  To me, it feels more like a deep album cut that you write to give an album a more dynamic feeling and to let the listener catch their breath in between a couple of rockers.  It's a good song, but hearing it by itself with no other songs for context makes me wonder if the band is in the midst of a major sound chance from their last album.  Time will tell I guess.

State Drugs / Zephr - Split 7":
https://snappylittlenumbers.bandcamp.com/album/split-single-sln-222

State Drugs - Live. Laugh. Love. LP - Green Vinyl (/140)

Snappy Little Numbers (2021)

A couple of years ago I added the State Drugs album Takings and Leavings to my collection.  It was a solid record and it gave me those warm Tom Petty rootsy rock vibes.  Now we have Live. Laugh. Love., a proper full length album that was recorded to be one, as opposed to Takings' compilation approach.  While I think that this record is stronger overall and absolutely more consistently good, I'm still getting the same sort of RIYL feelings that I did on the last record.

If you've ever listened to bands like Young Leaves, Nude Beach or Unwelcome Guests, I don't think there is a reason in the world not to add State Drugs to your record collection immediately.  While they don't have the same sort of Dinosaur Jr. guitar pyrotechnics that you might find with Young Leaves or the scrappy punk production of Unwelcome Guests, what you will get is excellent song writing fueling mid tempo, hook filled rock and roll.

This is a great Sunday morning record.  That's actually when I'm writing this up.  It's a great soundtrack for a laid back day where you want to relax and be taking away by some warm, fuzzy melodies.  

State Drugs - Live. Laugh. Love.:
https://snappylittlenumbers.bandcamp.com/album/live-laugh-love

State Drugs - Takings & Leavings LP - Blue Vinyl

Snappy Little Numbers / Toxic Pop (2019)

This isn't the first time I have heard State Drugs.  I really liked their contributions to a split cassette that they were a part of that I heard a few months ago.  That said, I ended up liking this LP even more than I thought I would.  This album collects a bunch of EPs and demos that State Drugs put out over the last few years.  I don't have any of these (the songs from the aforementioned split cassette are not part of this release), so for me, this is essentially like getting a new full length album to listen to for the first time.

What's really striking to me is how cohesive this sounds as a full record despite culling the recordings from several different sessions with different band members.  If you didn't tell me that up front, I don't think I would have realized that this wasn't meant to be a full album all along.  Anyway, This is rootsy indie rock that has one foot in Tom Petty and the other in The Replacements (there's even a cover of "Left of Dial" to really drive that home).  If you are into bands like Nude Beach, or to a lesser extent Unwelcome Guests, you should probably check out Takings & Leavings.

State Drugs - Takings & Leavings:
https://snappylittlenumbers.bandcamp.com/album/takings-leavings

Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond Band / State Drugs - Split Cassette

Motorcycle Potluck (2019)

Minus three points for being on cassette.  OK, now that I've gotten that out of the way, lets talk about this split cassette release from Motorcycle Potluck.  It has five songs and two bands.  One band I'm familiar with and the other I haven't heard before.

Nato Coles and The Blue Diamond Band are the band I've heard of before.  I have a split 7" of theirs with Your Pest Band and I'm super familiar with one of Nato's older bands, Modern Machines.  I really liked the Modern Machines and I was reasonably into Nato's next band, Used Kids.  There hasn't been anything that he's released as Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond Band that has really struck a nerve with me.  It's just a little too rootsy and Springsteen-ish for my personal taste.  It's certainly not bad, but it kind of feels like old people music to me.  Yes, I know I'm old, but there's that 80s rock sound that Bruce champions and I'm not really a fan of it.

State Drugs are more my speed.  Even though you can still hear something of an Americana influence (Tom Petty is the reference that comes to mind), they're playing it faster and more dynamic.  None of the three State Drugs songs sound like they are trapped in the past.  The inspiration is there, but the band is using it as a jumping off point to create their own sounds.  These songs are pretty decent and I would check out more from them in the future.

Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond Band / State Drugs - Split Cassette:
https://motorcyclepotluckrecords.bandcamp.com/album/nato-coles-and-the-blue-diamond-band-state-drugs-split