Most of the material from these sessions was used to create Automatic Midnight, which became the first release for Reis' newly formed Swami Records label.
To provide vocals for the tracks Reis called in Rick Froberg, whom he had played with in Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu from 1986 to 1995. Reis wrote and recorded a batch of songs in San Diego with Delta 72 drummer Jason Kourkounis. Both the band and the album began as a "side project" for John Reis in June 1999, during time off from his main band Rocket From the Crypt. And now, finally, they’re ours! As we await the somewhat-later- in-2018 release of their first new album since 2004, please make these Sub Pop reissues yours.Īutomatic Midnight, Hot Snakes’ first studio album, originally came out in 2000. All three were originally released on Swami Records, with art by singer/guitarist and visual artist Rick Froberg. San Diego’s influential post-hardcore all-stars Hot Snakes – boasting members of Pitchfork, Rocket From the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, Earthless, Obits, Burning Brides, OFF!, The Delta 72, and more – released three of our favorite rock records of the past 20 years: Automatic Midnight, Suicide Invoice, and Audit in Progress.