Charming Snakes, the

Lo-fi, minimal, danceable, high-energy noise rock. Distorted male vocals. Mid-tempo. 2003 Tour LP from this Seattle quartet (all members originally from Austin). Similar (more or less, here & there) to Swell Maps, Joy Division, and The Fall. Debut LP proper is coming out early 2005 on Dirtnap Records. Front man Ruben Mendez says "We're goth rock, without the goth part." Members of The Charming Snakes are also in The Make-Out Choir, New Luck Toy, and The Snacks. Start with 3, 4, 8. I love this record.
http://charmingsnakes.com

1. Starts with one measure of just noise guitar, then rocks out. Mid-tempo, pissed-off vox (like Mark E. Smith), multiple guitars, rat-a-tat snare. Ends with drums fading away, then guitar fades quickly.
2. Starts with high-energy guitar and drums. Clapping during chorus. Insistent and angry but in a low-key kinda way. "Why did you mess with my head?" Ends suddenly.
==> 3. A bit laid-back, relatively speaking. Rather Buzzcocks-like, musically. Call-and-response vocals. Slow fade ending.
==> 4. Starts with tubby-sounding percussion. A bit faster. Very repetitive, sorta Suicide-like. Song ends abruptly and then there's 21 seconds of silence.
5. Starts with fast staccato guitar and drums. Indecipherable vocals except for "Hey, hey, hey, hey!" and "Can't give all my time away!" Ends with fade out of noisy guitar chord.
6. Starts with just drums. Sounds like live Joy Division with significantly more caffeine.
7. Drum-stick hits, then fuzz guitar, then gets going with fast, rolling locomotive rhythm and yelled noise vox. Ends with five beats of loud drums.
==> 8. Starts with guitar & monotone, panned organ. Heavy dance beat with two note organ part. Rock on dude. "For Christ sakes, we are The Charming Snakes!"