Debut album from Brighton-based ‘grit-pop’ duo, Snake Eyes. Cash Rich tackles subjects as diverse as headaches, confidence and heartbreak – with a hefty dose of self-effacing humour thrown in for good measure.
LONG IN THE MAKING
OK – Cash Rich might be the debut album from Snake Eyes, but that doesn’t mean that the Brighton ‘grit-pop’ duo are new kids on the block. Far from it, in fact. Thomas Lisle Coe-Brooker (drums) and Jin Heffy (guitar and vocals) have been around for quite some time. They have two EPs to their name – Skeletons (2021) and Health (2023) and tours alongside the likes of You Me At Six, The Meffs, Dune Rats and The Xcerts have helped them build a healthy reputation on the live circuit. We caught them in 2025 with Dinosaur Pile Up (our review here).
Cash Rich has been brewing for most of that time, as drummer Thomas explains: “We’ve been slowly curating the album since releasing the Skeletons EP during lockdown, with tracks being dropped and added over the years until it felt good. It really is a body of work that represents the first five years of our band. Personally, I wanted to tour as much as we could and feel like we had an audience that actually wanted an album, rather than just releasing something that might fall on deaf ears.”
The band took the brave decision to self-produce the album, as they felt that such a strategy would allow them to fully realise their vision for exactly what they wanted to achieve in the studio. Drums, bass and guitar were tracked at Brighton’s Electric Studio 1, with ‘extras’ such as backing vocals, vinyl scratching and pump organ added wherever the band could make it work.
SPIRIT OF ’77
Lyrically, Thomas and Jim describe Cash Rich as “…a collection of doomsday foot-tappers for our fellow hippies. A record about doing our bit to save our planet with some intersection and self-belief thrown in for good measure.” I’d also like to suggest that Snake Eyes didn’t skimp on the humour, when they put these songs together…
Jim Heffy takes up the story: “There’s a tune about headaches, there’s a tune about confidence. There’s a tune about having your heart broken. Some of the older songs on the album, like Jar Full of Wasps and Slugs are pretty introspective and were written in lockdown, or even earlier. As the world started to open back up again, and we started touring, the writing became more about the bigger picture.”
As always, the key question is: What does it sound like? Well: Cash Rich is a singular album. The spirit of ’77 is ever-present and there’s nowhere on the album that more than a few seconds away from a refreshing blast of pure punk energy. But, in amongst those chugging, riffing guitars and thunderous drumbeats, there’s lots of other stuff to uncover. Barrett-esque 60’s psychedelia shows its welcome face on a number of occasions, there’s a few hints of folk, and bursts of true grit. There are even a few moments in which melody threatens to break through. It all adds up to a thoroughly intriguing listen.
RIFFAGE, GRIT AND MELODY
A barrage of guitar feedback yields to a cacophony of riffage to get opening track, Jar Full of Wasps, underway. The feel sits somewhere between a full-frontal punk assault and the bleak, post-punk emptiness of Joy Division. That’s a mood that’s continues for No Cars, a song in which restrained verses contrast mightily with the no-punches-pulled chorus. It’s engaging, it’s even slightly scary, and it’s fun.
You start to get the point of what Snake Eyes mean when they describe themselves as ‘grit-pop,’ with The Kicker. Fast, furious and packed with riffs that could only ever be described as ‘gritty,’ it’s exciting and it takes no prisoners. HDTV is slower-paced but no less-lacking in purpose. Jim’s vocals take on a dreamlike tone as he sings: “There’s a daisy chain runs around my brain. All is love and pain, but the love I feel is strange. I’ve had better days.” Thomas marks the time on his cowbell, as the riffs are slowly engulfed by a surge of strange sounds.
It’s with the epic I’m a Daydream that the melody breaks the surface. Jim’s voice is as dreamy as his lyrics as the guitar/drum backing is pared back for the verses. But, come the chorus, it’s all systems go, as Jim reminds us: “I’m a daydream,” to a full and massive accompaniment. And the surprises keep coming. The acoustic guitar that introduces the 60s-psych of Slugs is the last thing I was expecting, and it works a treat. The sound is fleshed out as the song progresses but the 60s whimsy is never lost. Syd Barrett lives on, it seems…
A PERFECT ENDING
It’s back to full-force punk for Hug Me – sharp, choppy guitar, thunderous drums, oodles of distortion and everything squeezed into a 2-minute window. And there’s a real spirit of punky nihilism that pervades the hilarious Soup. Clangy bass provides the drive but this one really is all about the lyrics, which Jim delivers with deadpan relish.
A female voice delivers a short monologue before a crash of feedback brings the album’s brief title track to its close, and the pace slows for the excellent Headache. “I’ve got a headache. I get them each day. Why won’t the pain just go away?” asks Jim, whilst the intensity builds and builds until the power is almost overwhelming
A strummed, effects-free electric guitar provides the pared-back accompaniment to Swing Away, another slice of Barrett-themed psychedelia. But that dreamy whimsy is given a hefty boot up the jacksie by the punky blitz that kicks in halfway through the song. And then – a final surprise… The acoustic guitar is back for closing track, Robot Boy – a lo-fi folk-punk anthem. A shimmering, other-worldly effect is added by a discrete organ on a strangely-likeable song that, somehow, provides the perfect ending to this singular album.
Snake Eyes: Website