On January 30, 2026, The Regent Theater in Los Angeles was packed with sweaty, young punks ready to take part in this historical new movement of experimental punk music; and they were as big of a part in creating the atmosphere as Snõõper- the Nashville based headliners making their Los Angeles tour stop.
Worldwide by Snõõper was one of the most talked about albums in 2025 alternative music for very good reason; it’s futuristic, bizarre brand of punk rock with laser-pointed quirky synthesizers is a huge breath of fresh air in the modern world where trends reign supreme. Hardcore legends Ceremony certainly agreed with this, hosting Snõõper at their Home Sick festivals in San Francisco and San Luis Obispo. In anticipation for the festival, Home Sick also hosted a mini tour for Snõõper and friends: Diode, Happy Death Men, and Ezcodylee.
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Diode was actually my favorite act of the evening by far. They seemed to have had the most genuine approach to taking on this Devo-influenced freak-punk sound that many online are referring to as “egg punk”. While both Snõõper and Happy Death Men were too gratuitous with using noise and feedback to create moments of false intensity, Diode’s synthesizers always had a distinct riff that matched the momentum of frontman Kiana’s vocals. They seemed to really understand the importance of “mystery” in maintaining the “freak” elements of freak-punk, never really addressing the crowd or letting the room distract them from playing as tightly as possible. You could tell they have a deep appreciation for the weirder sides of punk rock, and it’s easy to imagine them killing it on less-experimental lineups as well.
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As soon as Portland’s Happy Death Men took the stage, I instantly felt as if I time-traveled back to being in college and already feeling WAY too old to be at a Burger Records festival. I didn’t even know they could manufacture bands that rip off The Garden this transparently anymore, but here we are. From the ridiculous circus-esque costumes, to performing guitar slides with silly household utensils, to frontman Cash Miranda constantly jumping into the crowd at moments where the music grows bland; it’s been a while since I’ve seen a band this gimmicky. They already have quite a few music videos to their name despite only having one full-length release; everything about this band felt like it was based around their image and “wild” reputation rather than anything remotely related to music. This sort of psychedelic noise-punk (honestly I don’t think they have a genre or influences in mind, it’s just performatively loud) was played to death between 2009-2014 in Southern California, but maybe Portland hasn’t received the memo yet.
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Happy Death Men’s set was also obscenely long for a band of any punk nature, going well over 35 minutes. This is a trend that you often see when following the “local scene” of younger artists, where they somehow get it in their head that it’s appropriate to do a full-length set as an opening act. It’s awesome that they have that much material prepared and they should definitely put on a theatrical show for the record release party; but this is a punk show, not a festival performance. It’s a rookie move that usually results in the audience being burnt out before the headliner even starts, but I guess the crowd was so young that they were ready to pogo throughout the night no matter who was on stage.
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Happy Death Men were definitely talented in getting the room moving and keeping the energy high, so they were a great choice in successfully filling that role. Hopefully they can find more of an identity that is unique to them, rather than just existing as an act that gets the crowd hyped up. The last thing the world needs is more “crowd work” bands and the opportunities to thrive in that role are disappearing rapidly; I read that they opened for Jack White recently which makes sense, it’s much easier to impress a crowd of elderly folks or younger kids without the money to go to shows often. It’s cool to have energetic live performances and “wild” aesthetics, but the music needs to be equally exciting for anybody in attendance to look the artist up afterwards.
Considering that Snõõper had already showcased quite a decently sized lineup of supporting acts for the evening, the room was roaring in anticipation for them to finally take the stage. The Regent erupted as soon as vocalist Blair Tremel walked across the stage holding an “ABOLISH ICE” banner that the band would proudly display on stage for the rest of the night. The chaos of Snõõper was unleashed as soon as they broke into their first song “Hologram”, but this is also where I noticed something was terribly wrong.
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The smooth robotic-sounding vocals that Tremel effortlessly showcases on Snõõper’s recordings were nowhere to be found, being replaced by somewhat frenzied directionless screaming of the lyrics. The tight, futuristic instrumentals with alien-sounding synthesizers were thrown to the side as well, with moments of crashing guitar solos and freeform chaos throughout. While the energy in the room was through the roof with the younger punks starting a massive circle pit that took up the entire dancefloor, it didn’t sound like I was hearing Snõõper live and it was even difficult to discern which track they were performing. The crowd didn’t seem to care if they knew what song was playing though, with stage-dives happening every few seconds like clockwork.
There were even some younger kids that (safely) jumped off of the stage for their first stage-dive, very similar to an Aquabats concert. Considering how bizarre and unconventional The Aquabats are with their incorporation of synthesizers into punk music, this is an incredible influence for Snõõper and they should take on this energy more often. One very crucial and important aspect of Snõõper’s role in the punk scene is their ability to bring younger people and women into the mosh pit without the fear of violence. Regardless of how I felt about their performance this evening, we need more inclusive bands like Snõõper in the scene to keep punk alive and thriving for younger generations.
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I’m really not one to criticize a band for being a bit more sloppy live; in fact, I think it can add to the personality of their performance most of the time. Snõõper is not a band that benefits from this more chaotic, noisy freeform way of performing. The sloppiness actually really took away from their campy and colorful brand of “cool” that the tighter instrumentals and stylized futuristic vocals on their albums emphasize. On the record; Snõõper sounds like a punk band from another galaxy that has evolved way past the need for moshing or the punk scene as a whole. However, seeing Snõõper live was an unfortunate reminder that not only are they human, but they perform with a significant amount of human error compared to most musicians.
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Snõõper may have a lot of experimentation in their music, but what really makes a band stand out in noise rock or freak-punk is the artist’s ability to tightly channel their chaos into a more precise signature sound. Snõõper has the chaos and the experimentation down, but their live performances are severely lacking in pinpointing the identity found in their studio releases. With how uncommon experimental punk and noise rock are in the modern day, it’s no surprise that Snõõper would assume that these avant-garde noisy elements can stand on their own. Taking on these influences alone makes them more interesting than most punk artists out there right now.
The creation of the term “egg punk” in recent years is proof of this perception that experimentation stands on its own, as bands like Snõõper would have been simply labeled freak-punk, experimental, or even industrial back in the day. While this sort of chaotic frenzied punk rock with synthesizers might impress the younger audience members, considering they’re usually exposed to more conventional scenes in punk music like hardcore or emo nowadays; any sort of noise punk enthusiast that followed bands like The Jesus Lizard, Butthole Surfers, Big Black, etc. will instantly long for those days of bolder expression upon seeing Snõõper live.
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It is a sad irony that the current world removed of the obstacles in expressing yourself is less creative than the art that managed to rise above the oppression of 1980’s puritanical conservatism. Sometimes, having too many options at your disposal that allow you to be as weird as possible can result in the completely opposite outcome; a product that sounds predictable and void of any sense of true rebellion. Snõõper do sound genuinely weird and freaky on their studio recordings, but the more unconventional elements of their music get overshadowed by the seemingly random moments of noise and gimmicky mosh-calls. In reality, Snõõper’s music is so off-the-walls insane on the recording that they don’t need to do any crowd-work to win the room over; their music should be chaotic enough to stand on its own.
Snõõper has a unique sound with a lot of personality in their studio recordings, but they need to find a way to channel more of that character into their live performances if they want to exist as more than a passing Gen-Z trend. As of right now, these two versions of Snõõper that exist are almost unrecognizable from each other. It’s incredibly common to run across rising bands that have an amazing sound, but they’re a bit shy on stage and need to break out of their shell; Snõõper has almost the opposite problem. Their shell has been broken completely and they know how to get the younger people in the room moving, but they need to tighten up their performances significantly if they want to grow and hold the attention of their audience.
Words by Danny Ryan
Photos by Albert Licano
