Sometimes it can be tough when you get the musical munchies yet struggle to figure out what exactly fits your sonic taste in the moment.
Do you want something light, warm and comforting — tunes that ease your brain into a chill mindset?
Do you want something that's more spicy — some aggressive, rebellious rock sounds?
Do you want something sweet — an emotionally open and upbeat danceable jam?
Thankfully for local music fans, Spokane's Snacks at Midnight always offers an overflowing cornucopia of flavors. And that's on full display on the group's new album, What You Think You Want.
The album opener "F— You" has a snarling punk-ish feel and cops a Rage Against the Machine line for its bridge to underscore a message of nonconformity in an age of digital cultural homogeneity. And while tunes like "Give Em Hell" and "Hanging Rope" keep a similar rock edge, that's only the tip of the iceberg. There are also groovy indie pop jams "Sleep Deprivation" and "Life Ain't Fair." There's pulled back chill out vibes to be found in songs like "Breathe." Heck, there's even an instrumental interlude before the soft-handed singer-songwriter finale "The Change." That tune also captures the general spirit of the album, which was recorded at Rainmaker Studios in Pasco, Washington, last December.
"It's entirely about how things are going to change. Life is going to really suck sometimes, and life is going to be phenomenal sometimes, but the one consistent is that it's going to be different," singer and guitarist Rory Babin says. "And you should appreciate that fact and be OK with it."
"We took a photo before we recorded the album," he adds. "It was of a woman holding a gas can with flowers coming out of it. And this was kind of the center of the idea of the album — the strange contrast between peace and war, love and fighting, and how the two connect and intertwine."
What You Think You Want showcases an extremely eclectic rock sound that Snacks at Midnight has honed over the course of more than just a few years.
The friendship at the core of Snacks at Midnight well predates its founding. Bassist Nick Harner and lead guitarist Giovani Covarrubias grew up together as neighborhood buddies. Then in middle school, Harner and Babin bonded when they had to make a rap music video about King George for a social studies project. The crew became closer pals while attending high school at Lewis & Clark, and Rory's keyboard-playing brother Bill Babin eventually joined the crew for two very obvious reasons.
"I'm here because they needed a pianist, and my mom said I had to join," Bill says.
Snacks at Midnight is the rare high school band formed in parents' basements that survived post-graduation. The guys played their first show the summer after their freshman year in 2015, but self-admittedly — just like almost every high school band — they weren't exactly killing it out of the gate.
"We were definitely friends first, and then we started playing instruments together. And then we sucked for like four years," Harner says with a chuckle.
But even when things might not have been sharp, Harner says the joy the guys felt playing together made it clear they wanted to try to pursue music as a career. Oddly, part of the group's musical connection comes from the fun of not sharing the same musical backgrounds.
"I think part of what makes us the most unique is all of our members come from super different music tastes," Rory says.
For example, Rory "grew up on Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers" and other melodic folk tunes. His brother Bill is a classical piano guy. Harner was drawn to the bass via funk and listens to indie and prog rock. Drummer Austin Davis — who met Harner in college at Eastern Washington University and joined the group in 2022 after a few drummer changes — grew up on jazz, but digs punk and metal and cites Paramore as his favorite band. It's a hodgepodge, but one that works.
The band finally started to come into its own right at the least ideal time. Snack at Midnight's debut album, Mom's Proud, arrived in November 2020 amid ongoing COVID shutdowns in the music industry, but the album showcased a laid-back while still upbeat alternative folk pop sound. It's a far different feel from What You Think You Want, but certainly has a warm and welcoming vibe.
And once the world reopened to live music, Snack at Midnight got busy. Like busy busy.
If you frequently dive into the local music scene, odds are you would've stumbled across one of Snacks at Midnight's always-energetic sets at some point. In terms of bands that primarily play their own music (as opposed to covers-forward acts), the group leaves pretty much everyone else in the dust when it comes to its gigging frequency.
"Last year we played over 70 shows," Rory says. "We haven't had a free weekend in four years."
And of course there's a practical side to all that work.
"[We do it to] get as many eyes and as many paychecks as we can, because it's expensive to produce the album. And because we want to do it so bad, it just felt like the only route to go," Harner adds. "I mean, playing shows is kind of the thing you want to do. I love being in the studio, but I mean playing shows when there are people in your face dancing? That's the best feeling ever."
If you've yet to bite into Snacks at Midnight's live sound, there's a fittingly foody chance upcoming. The band is playing a free set on Sunday night at Pig Out in the Park at the Riverfront Pavilion Stage. It's also the last chance to see Snacks for a while. After working toward What You Think You Want's release in July and playing so many shows the past handful of years, the band is taking a much-needed break to recharge for the rest of 2024.
Once the guys take some time to rest, Snacks at Midnight will take their Spokane sound abroad, kicking off 2025 with a 12-show tour of Japan. And while the guys are incredibly happy with how What You Think You Want turned out and need a gigging pause, don't expect them to stay away from Spokane stages for too long. These friends have developed the collective taste for the thrill of live music. As most of us can attest, once you start snacking it can be incredibly hard to stop.
"Recording is cool and all, and it's great to have your stuff immortalized, but playing is where it's at." Davis says. "I'd trade a single moment on stage over any moment of greatness in history." ♦
Snacks at Midnight • Sun, Sept. 1 at 6 pm • Free • All ages • Pig Out in the Park's Pavilion Stage, Riverfront Park • 574 N. Howard St. • pigoutinthepark.com
