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INTRO

 The Rattlesnakes are an extra-loud, LA-based, guitar-driven, rock unit aimed at people lacking moral judgment.  They have at times, for lack of familiarity, been likened to the sounds of bands of the past and bands of the day.  Two of them are brothers and the rest have known each other since the seventh grade, except for Watson who joined up a few years back.  The Rattlesnakes have played roughly two hundred shows in and around the Los Angeles area dating back to 1998.  The Rattlesnakes saved nickel and dime to self-release their first seven-inch record.  The second record was paid for by the now-defunct Flaming Owl of Death Records; it was distributed throughout the west coast, and later reached New York and Taiwan.  The releases on vinyl and compact disc are available throughout the united states.  Their latest release, "I, Explosion!", is being distributed nationally by Revolver and has gotten great reviews in the LA Weekly, OC Weekly, and Mean Street.  The Rattlesnakes have enjoyed playing with the Black Keys, Datsuns, Scene Creamers, Bellrays, Hot Snakes, Pattern, Dead Moon, Blood Brothers, Dragons, Bangs, Hi-Fives, Red Monkey, French Kicks, Har Mar Superstar, Rocket from the Crypt, & Q and Not U.  Their self-managed tours throughout the southwest have been frantic, insane, yet somehow successful, worth every dark night spent on the side of the road.  The Rattlesnakes have no wives, husbands, or babies to love and have, instead of simply killing themselves, wrestled this wild, homeless passion into music, be it just for each other or a few hundred strangers. 

STATEMENT

The Rattlesnakes are not just a band, however; they are, more accurately, a small congregation suffering from a remarkable social condition with no name or cure.  They find momentary relief only in the production of a twenty-four minute series of organized vibrations, which their surrounding world has stereotyped as music.  These sounds are not artistic choices, however; for the Rattlesnakes know that there is no real choice; these sounds are instead a reflection of the desperate and uncontrolled behavior of a diseased man in want of the warmth and comfort found only in the bosom of oblivion.  The Rattlesnakes are not musicians but mediums, political instruments, just conduits between the people and something much worse, propagating misinformation and loosely-founded social policies to a world that is reluctant to listen.  The Rattlesnakes are the last men and women on earth, and present to you a gift, a guerilla holiday to keep in your heart and take wherever you like.

  FINAL THOUGHTS

"Way back in 1956, Bo Diddley built himself a brand new house on the roadside made from rattlesnake hide. Now I don't claim to know where he built that house but I sure wouldn't be surprised to find it in Corona, California. It's a sleepy, desert town, about an hour east of Los Angeles -- the kind of place moms and pops call heaven and the kids call hell. Five young malcontents in particular knew that Corona was just a metaphor for dead end, meaningless lives and they were determined to get out. The Rattlesnakes have heart like a Hallmark store come Valentine's Day. These kids were dragged through the mud for years by bar-rock schmucks who will hopefully choke when The Rattlesnakes get their dues. Listen to the title track on their debut album, "I, Explosion," and you can almost see desperation seething from the speakers. They spent years pushing as hard as they could and the walls are finally giving way.  Now that you understand how hard The Rattlesnakes have worked to get here, let me just say this: they're the best rock and roll band in Los Angeles. That's no small competition either, believe me. Our scene here is better than it's been in two decades. But The Rattlesnakes stand on top of it all. They play with the ass-shaking vigor of a young Rocket From The Crypt, Ray Davies' ear for melody and the superb, tortured lyricism of Darby Crash. Their live show can be simultaneously wildly carefree and oppressively heavy, but they ride contradictions like they had wheels and horsepower to spare.  Ladies and Gentlemen, forget that former ska band from Sweden. The Rattlesnakes are the rock and roll band you've been waiting for all along." - Brett Schultz