Snog is a band formed by Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n musician David Thrussell, along with fellow art school friends, Tim McGrath and Julia Bourke, in 1989. The band's music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 is a fusion of many different styles, including industrial

Industrial music

Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...

, techno, ambient

Ambient music

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...

, experimental

Experimental music

Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

, funk and even some of the social commentary of country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

. The band name is a reference to "kissing and cuddling," which, according to Thrussell, symbolizes the Marxist concept of destroying barriers between people.

History

Snog's first album, Lies Inc., was released in 1992. Pieter Bourke

Pieter Bourke

Pieter Bourke is an Australian percussionist, composer, and audio engineer. He has collaborated with Dead Can Dance, and recorded material with ex-Dead Can Dance Lisa Gerrard. He also collaborated with Australian musician David Thrussell , first as part of the latter's band Snog, then just the two...

 joined the band soon afterwards, and Dear Valued Customer, which drew heavily on techno influences, was released in 1994. That same year, two side projects emerged: Soma was formed by Thrussell and Pieter Bourke — who has since worked with Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...

 and Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry....

 — and Thrussell formed solo project Black Lung

Black Lung

Black Lung is an electronic and industrial music project by Australian musician David Thrussell, also known for his industrial bands Snog and the more ambient Soma....

. The first Black Lung release "Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars" included out-takes from Snog's long duration Australian CD singles, which had to be shortened in order to be also sold in Germany.

By 1997, the band had largely become a solo project for Thrussell, with guest musicians. Buy Me... I'll Change Your Life was a departure in style, featuring country western-style guitar and a cover of Lee Hazlewood

Lee Hazlewood

Lee Hazlewood , born Barton Lee Hazlewood was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s.Hazlewood had a distinctive baritone voice that added an ominous...

's "Let the Little Flowers Grow". 1999's Third Mall from the Sun offered a blend of the style of the previous two albums, along with new influences. Thrussell described the change in musical styles between albums in a 1998 interview with Jester, from Sonic Boom Magazine,

"In the past Snog has written a lot of dance floor material and while it has been successful, I kind of felt that I needed to write something different. I intentionally try and do something new with every Snog release. I do not want to get caught up in the musical trap of remaking the same album over and over".

Third Mall from the Sun was followed by the remix album Relax into the Abyss.

In 2003, Beyond the Valley of the Proles was released. This album offered a more refined version of the style found on Buy Me. Its 2006 follow-up was, Snog vs. the Faecal Juggernaut of Mass Culture.

One notable feature about the band is Thrussell's lyrics — almost all songs contain themes of anti-capitalism

Anti-capitalism

Anti-capitalism describes a wide variety of movements, ideas, and attitudes which oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists, in the strict sense of the word, are those who wish to completely replace capitalism with another system....

, anti-fascism

Fascism

Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...

, anti-consumerism

Consumerism

Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...

, individuality, and anti-big-brotherism

Big Brother (1984)

Big Brother is a fictional character in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is the enigmatic dictator of Oceania, a totalitarian state taken to its utmost logical consequence – where the ruling Party wields total power for its own sake over the inhabitants.In the society that Orwell...

.

The albums Third Mall from the Sun (1999), Relax into the Abyss (2000) and Beyond the Valley of the Proles (2003) featured artwork by Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 artist Chris Woods, whose paintings lampoon the advertising tactics of major corporations such as McDonald's

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

, The Gap, and Nike

Nike, Inc.

Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

.

Snog supports copying of their music and many releases, depending on their recording label, are designated copyleft

Copyleft

Copyleft is a play on the word copyright to describe the practice of using copyright law to offer the right to distribute copies and modified versions of a work and requiring that the same rights be preserved in modified versions of the work...

(or copyright-free) as indicated by a crossed out "©" symbol printed on their album cases.

Reception

Italian music writer, Piero Scaruffi, called Snog's music "naive techno sound", but named Thrussell as perhaps "Australia's most creative techno musician" when describing his evolution through sounds between Snog, Black Lung and Soma in his book A history of rock music. In 2008, Matthew Rich from Left Hip Magazine in a review of The Last Days of Rome, described Snog as, "the greatest band at the moment".

Discography

• Corporate Slave – (12", CD Maxi) 1992 - Machinery
• Lies Inc. – (CD Album) 1992 - Machinery • (CD Album) 1993 - Id • (CD Album, Reissue) 1993 - Futurist, Machinery • (CD Album) 2003 – Ground Under Production
• Shop – (12", CD Maxi) 1992 - Machinery • (CD Single) 1993 - Id
• Born To Be Mild – (CD Maxi) 1993 - Machinery, Id
• Hey, Christian God – (CD Maxi) 1993 - Id
• Cliché – (CD Maxi) 1994 - Machinery • (CD Single) 1994 - Id
• Dear Valued Customer – (CD Album) 1994 - Id • (CD Album) 1995 - Machinery
• Dear Valued Customer/Live in the Global Village – (2xCD) 1994 - Id
• The Future – (CD Maxi) 1995 - Metropolis, Id • (CD) 1996 - Zoth Ommog
• Lies Inc./Lies Inc. The Special Edition –2xCD) 1996 - Id
• Remote Control – (CD) 1996 - Metropolis
• ...Make the Little Flowers Grow – (CD Maxi) 1997 - Shock
• Buy Me... I'll Change Your Life – (CD Album) 1997 - Shock • (CD Album) 1998 - Metropolis
• Hooray!!! – (CD Maxi) 1997 - Shock • (CD Maxi) 1998 - Metropolis
• Dear Valued Customer/The Remix Files – (2xCD) 1998 - Rollercoaster Recordings
• The Ballad – (CD Maxi) 1998 - Shock
• The Human Germ – (CD Maxi) 1998 - Metropolis
• I Snog, Therefore I Am – (LP) 1999 - Hymen Records • (2xCD) 1999 - Hymen Records
• Third Mall from the Sun – (CD Album) 1999 - Metropolis, Hymen Records, Rollercoaster Recordings • (2xLP Album) 1999 - Hymen Records • (2xCD Album) 2001 - Equinox
• Lies Inc./Dear Valued Customer - (2xCD Album) 2000 - Metropolis
• Relax Into the Abyss – (CD) 2000 - Metropolis, Hymen Records • (LP) 2000 - Hymen Records
• Justified Homicide – (CD Enhanced, Ltd. Ed) 2001 - Karmic Hit
• Adventures In Capitalism – (DVD) 2003 - Metropolis
• Beyond The Valley of the Proles – (CD Album) 2003 - Metropolis, Hymen Records, Karmic Hit
• Beyond The Valley of the Proles/Your Favorite Electro-Folk-Swingers – (2xLP) 2003 - Hymen Records
• Fill My Hole – (CD Promo) 2003 - Karmic Hit
• Your Favorite Electro-Folk-Swingers – (CD) 2003 - Karmic Hit
• Real Estate Man (The Rema[k]es) – (12") 2005 - [k]rack-troni[k]
• Real Estate Man Plus – (CD Maxi) 2005 - Hymen Records
• Crash Crash Rema[k]es – (12") 2006 - [k]rack-troni[k]
• Crash Crash vs. Remixes and Exclusive Tracks – (CD Maxi) 2006 - Psy-Harmonics • (AAC file) 2006 - Metropolis
• Planet of Shit – (CD Maxi) 2006 - Psy-Harmonics • (AAC file) 2006 - Metropolis
• Sixteen Easy Tunes for the End Times – (CD Album, Enhanced) 2006 - Metropolis, Solnze Records, Karmic Hit
• The Kings of Hate – (CD Maxi Enhanced) 2006 - Psy-Harmonics • (AAC file) 2006 - Metropolis
• Snog vs. The Faecal Juggernaut of Mass Culture – (CD Album, Enhanced) 2006 - Metropolis, Psy-Harmonics
• City – (CDr, Single Promo) 2007 - Psy-Harmonics
• The Last Days of Rome – (CD Album) 2007 - Metropolis, Hymen Records, Psy-Harmonics • (CD EP) 2007 - Psy-Harmonics • (AAC file) 2007 - Metropolis
• Vaguely Melancholic – (CDr, Single Promo) 2007 - Metropolis
• City – (CD EP) 2008 - Metropolis
• Last of the Great Romantics - (CD Album) 2010 - Metropolis
• The Dissolving Satellite of Egoism Overturned - (CD Album) 2010 - Hymen Records

Compilation appearances

• How To Use Machinery – (CD) 1991 - Appearing as Snøg, Track #4 "Spermy Man (Original)" - Machinery
• Mind/Body Compilation Volume 1 – (2xCD, Ltd. Edition) 1992 - Disc #2, Track #9 "Born To Be Mild" - Atomic Novelties
• The Yammouni Files – (CS, Ltd. Edition) 1992 - Side A, Track #4 "Manufacturing Consent" - Extreme
• How To Use Machinery II – (CD) 1993 - Track #1 "Bank" and Track #16 "Funereal" - Machinery
• Cybercore Volume 1 – (CD) 1994 - Track #11 "Born To Be Mild" - Siren Records
• How To Use Machinery Vol. III – (CD) 1994 - Track #13 "Naive Giant (Remix)" and Track #16 "Dear Valued Customer" - Machinery
• Trash Trance – (CD) 1994 - Track #9 "Reigning Terror (live)" - PBS Recordings
• 1992 - 1995 – (VHS) 1995 - Video #2 "Cliché" and Video #6 "Empires" - Dorobo
• A Label Introduction – (CD) 1995 - Track #10 "Naive Giants" - Machinery, Dynamica
• A Taste of Candy - Volume 2 – (CD) 1995 - Appearing as Snog vs. Q-Kontrol, Track #11 "Cliché" - Candyline Records
• The Best of Mind/Body : Electro-Industrial Music from the Internet – (CD) 1995 - Track #7 "Born To Be Mild" - Fifth Colvmn
• Machinery Vol. 1 – (CS) 1996 - Side B, Track #3 "Naive Giant" - Koch International
• Best of + One – (2xCD, Ltd. Edition) 1997 - Disc #2, Track #10 "Corporate Slave (V1 Club Mixes) - Machinery
• Electronic Battle Weapons – (2xCD) 1998 - Disc #2, Track #14 "Hooray!! (Severed Heads & The Mormon Choir)" - Sony Music Entertainment (Australia)
• Electropolis: Volume 1 – (CD) 1998 - Track #14 "Born To Be Mild (Overtune)" - Metropolis
• Future Noir - A Collection - Beats for a New Dark Age – (2xCD) 1998 - Disc #2, Track #8 "The Future (XX0000)" - Nova Tekk, Credo
• Lágrimas De Miedo N°5 - Kimota – (CD) 1998 - Track #10 "Hooray!! (Black Lung and the Cast of Thousands)" - Fear Drop
• Psychedelic Demons – (CD Compilation) 1998 - Track #6 "The Future (XX0000)" - Insolation, Zoomshot Media Entertainment
• The Flatline Compilation – (2xCD) 1998 - Disc #1 Track #1 "The Future" - Flatline Records
• Body Rapture 7 – (2xCD) 1999 - Disc #1, Track #13 "We Decorate Your Life (Industrial Mix)" - Zoth Ommog
• Dystopian Visions – (CD) 1999 - Track #4 "The Future (Takshaka vs. Snog)" - Dystopian Records
• EBM Club Classics Vol. 2 – (2xCD) 1999 - Disc #1, Track #12 "Corporate Slave" - Synthetic Symphony
• Elegy - Numéro 5 – (CD Sampler) 1999 - Track #10 "Hooray!!" - Elegy Magazine
• 'Teknoir – (2xCD) 1999 - Disc #2, Track #11 "Hooray!! (Black Lung And The Death Jungle 2000)" - Hymen Records
• The Flatline Compilation 2 – (2xCD) 1999 - Disc #1, Track #4 "Are You Normal Enough?" - Flatline Records
• TT 32 – (CD Sampler) 1999 - Track #19 "Real Estate Man" - Text Und Ton Magazin
• Angst (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – (CD) 2000 - Track #3 "Late 20th Century Boy" - Festival Mushroom Records
• Cyberl@b V2.0 – (2xCD) 2000 - Disc #1, Track #3 "Late Twentieth Century Boy" - Matrix Cube
• Metropolis 2000 – (CD) 2000 - Track #11 "Is There No One Who Can Save Us From Today?" - Metropolis
• Resist the Command – (CD) 2000 - Track #2 "Real Estate Man" - Dystopian Records
• Triton Compilation II – (2xCD) 2000 - Disc #1, Track #13 "Real Estate Man (Low Key Operations Make a Down-Payment)" - Triton
• :Per:Version: Vol. 1 – (CD Enhanced) 2001 - Video file "Late 20th Century Boy" - :Ritual:
• Experience - Psy-Harmonics Volume 5 – (2xCD) 2001 - Disc #1, Track #5 "Slide Into Extinction" - Psy-Harmonics
• Hotaka Mountain Festival '01 '02 – (2xCD + DVD) 2002 - DVD Track #7 "Born To Be Mild (Live at Hotaka Mountain Festival '01)" - Universal Records (Japan)
• Previews & Rarities – (CD) 2002 - Track #5 "Citizens" - Karmic Hit
• Noizzze. Just Do it. Invasion & Friends 2k4– (2xCDr) 2004 - Disc #1, Track #2 "This Is Capitalism (Ambassador 21 Remix)" - Invasion Wreck Chords
• [k]rack-troni[k] Sonar 2004 Compilation – (CD) 2004 - Track #10 "Real Estate Man (Super Awesome Electro Friends Forever! Remix)" - [k]rack-troni[k]
• Metropolis 2005 – (CD + DVD) 2005 - DVD Track #7 "Late 20th Century Boy" - Metropolis
• Antiphonal - DVD Compilation 1 – (DVD) 2006 - Track #11 "Corporate Slave" - Antiphonal Magazine
• Maschinenfest 2006 – (2xCD Ltd. Edition) 2006 - Disc #2, Track #3 "Crash Crash vs. Tim Wright" - Pflichtkauf
• Travel Sickness – (8xCD, Ltd. Edition Box) 2006 - Disc #6 Track #1 "Rotten Meat", Track #2 "Al-Qaeda Is Your Best Friend", Track #3 "The Rat Race", Track #4 "I'm Suspicious", Track #5 "The Ballad of Timothy McVeigh", Track #6 "Darlin', My Darlin'", and Track #7 "The Ballad" - Hymen Records
• 0000 - (2xCD) 2007 - Appearing as Hecq vs. Snog, Disc #2, Track #9 "Sknss" - Hymen Records, Kaleidoskop
• Cut&Go – (CDr) 2007 - Track #5 "This Is Capitalism" - Invasion Wreck Chords
• Fiend Magazine Sampler CD 2 – (CD Sampler) 2007 - Track #14 MEN "Turn On Your Brain Body" - Fiend Magazine
• Metropolis:Rebirth 1.0 – (2xCD) 2008 - Disc 2, Track #6 "Vaguely Melancholic" - Metropolis

Other

• Pearls Before Swine – Movie Soundtrack 1999 - (contributed tracks, alongside NON and Death in June)