The Black Snakes talked about here were a band from the late '80s, not the current band called "The Black Snakes".
Line up:
Darin Lin, guitar
Richard Kern, guitar
Jack Natz, vocals and bass
Patrick Blank, drums
(photo above from the back cover of "Crawl"; I'm pretty sure that's Natz is on the far right with the big hair, Darin Lin Wood is in the middle back and that that's Kern on the far left, which would make the guy on the ground Patrick Blank. But I may be wrong. Photo by Michael Lavine.)
Darin Lin Wood was in the Black Snakes and Dig Dat Hole, both bands pregnant with future members of Cop Shoot Cop. He is also in a band called Fireworks, from whose site some information in this discography was taken. Also bands called Jackknife, Cat Fur, and Blacktop. There is an MP3 from the band Fireworks available at the previously linked site. He was also in the Red Devils and 68 Comeback. The site also says he's MIA, and would like him to contact them…
Natz and Patrick Blank were also in Razor Chamber. That link says that Patrick Blank (spelled Blanck on that site) died in a diving (it says diving, not driving) accident in the Dominican Republic in 2001. That link does have several MP3s tho, so you can appreciate their work (altho it is unclear if the recordings are from the era with Natz and Blank or not).
Here's a good band info page on the Black Snakes which provided much information distilled above.
There is an odd reference to the Black Snakes in a Sonic Youth bootleg called Hold That Tiger. I think they opened for them, 10/14/87 at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago. The reference is some guy saying "Uh.. direct from New York City.. Richard Kern and the Black Snakes.. the Kings of Cough Syrup.. let's start rocking!" Kern directed a couple of Sonic Youth videos ("Death Valley '69" in 1986 and "Scooter and Jinx (AKA Moneylove)" in 1991), so there's probably a good chance the Black Snakes had something going on that night with Sonic Youth…
I asked Richard Kern if he had any links to Black Snakes resources; he wrote to me "No info there - the band blew up." I don't think he meant it became mega popular.
Most of the information here is second hand at best, as I only have the Kern DVD and Crawl. And nowThe End of Music. (I like the trend…). You seem to be able to order 8 Ball from the Netherlands. The website says it was last updated in May 2002. I don't feel like tempting fate by ordering from them; feel free to tell me or the Firewater Circus list about your results… (you may need to replace the blank space in the link between Black and Snake with "%20").
Here's a fanzine with a small mention of the Black Snakes. It's spelled as one word. Search for Natz on the page and you'll find it. It says Darin was in a band called the Red Devils in Texas before the Black Snakes. Ah. I see. It's about the band Blacktop that Darin was in.
Better still; this earlier issue of the same fanzine has an interview with Darin about Blacktop (they spell it as two words).
Crawl - LP. Radium (RA 035) 1988. The tracks are A1. Rear View Mirror, A2 The Hanging Of John Daniel Lee, A3 Black Snake, A4 Same Old Shit, B1 Ride, B2 Ain't That A Shame, B3 Three Tongues, B4 Ain't No Sunshine, B5 Train. All songs by the Black Snakes except Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers. Jim Thirlwell mixed the album (and therefore 8 Ball, too) under the name Bubba Kowalski , according to the discography on the Foetus site. Thirlwell also mentions this in an interview on his site. A source (www.consumerrevolt.de) lists this as on Ruthless, and its number as 226.05. However, the full label name seems to be Radium 226.05, and the album number is RA 035. There could be a Ruthless release, but I haven't seen solid information on that. Radium is a Swedish label. Go figure.
Rear View Mirror - 7". Roir . Presumably the songs (and versions) on "The End of Music", but that's not confirmed since I don't have the 7".
8 Ball - LP. NMW. 1994 (Reportedly a reissue of Crawl with some variations 1.Ain't No Sunshine (when she's gone) 2.Rear-view Mirror 3.Stranded 4.One Shot World 5.Black Snake 6.Train 7.Me and the Devil 8.Crawl 9.Special Bonus Ride)
Blacksnakes/Pussy Galore split 7" - 7". Supernatural (AGN2). 1988 (Song is "One Shot World"). This seems to have come with a Japanese magazine, Augenblick Magazine #6.
Death Trip - ?. I'm not sure what this is, but it is listed on Last Beat's page for Darin Lin Wood's Fireworks as a soundtrack appearance. Death Trip is the the contact name on the P.O. Box listed on "Crawl." Death Trip also tends to be in reference to some of Kern's films (there's a book, for instance, called Death Tripping, The Cinema of Transgression" about the films of Kern, Nick Zedd, and a few others); this might be a reference to one of the video compilations, or perhaps it is something else.
The End Of Music ROIR Sessions 2xLP/CD. Danceteria (DANLP/DANCD 078) (songs are "Rear View Mirror" and "I'm Cheap"). 1988. Steve Albini's liner notes read as follows: "Black Snakes: neck and neck with BEASTIE BOYS and KRACKHOUSE for worst NY band in history. Humorless, self-obsessed and stupid. Their favorite color is black. The obvious victims of their stylistic theft are Foetus, Killdozer and Allman Brothers. When not nodding on the cheapest opiates they can grub up, their hobbies include spitting and the wearing of festive mojo bags." Interesting, if unhelpful.
The Hardcore Collection: The Films of Richard Kern - DVD. Music Video Distributors. (No item number outside of UPC). Black Snakes provide some of the music for "Submit to Me Now", which also has Natz showing up in it. All the films on the DVD are by Richard Kern of the Black Snakes. He himself shows up on occasion in the films.
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