Snuff: Flibbiddydibbiddydob

Long available only as imports spoken of solely by those in the know, Snuff has finally generated enough interest stateside to warrant the domestic release of their first two albums, Snuff Said… and Flibbiddydibbiddydob. The band's penchant for long and difficult album titles masks the fact that the music contained therein is neither long nor difficult. Instead, it's strong, catchy punk that's too busy having fun to take itself too seriously. Snuff bridges the (admittedly small) sound gap between American pop-punk and British punk, and as such, there's an abundance of anger tempered with goofiness, great guitar hooks tempered with self-awareness, and trashed covers of classics ("I Think We're Alone Now," "Purple Haze") tempered with the knowledge that there are elements to these songs which justifiably made them popular in the first place. Of the two albums, Snuff Said… is certainly the better value on the surface, as it has 2.5 times the music. However, Flibbiddydibbiddydob is catchier on the whole, and is given to more moments of giddy silliness. It's not as though they wouldn't have fit on one disc, but two discs is how they were released, and two discs is what you should eventually have sitting on your shelves, right next to those of the pretenders who followed in Snuff's wake.