These Arms Are Snakes have shared a 2003 demo version of their song “Riding The Grape Dragon.“ This take on the track will appear on the band’s rarities compilation “Duct Tape & Shivering Crows“ (out April 15).

Brian Cook commented:

“We recorded our first four songs with Ben Verellen in his basement studio in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma, WA sometime in late 2002 / early 2003. I remember very little of the session other than sleeping beneath the mixing console after a late night of drinking. The four songs were burned onto CD and mailed to every record label we liked.

‘Riding the Grape Dragon’ was the first song our unexpecting recipients would hear, and it was apparently a strong enough song for people to listen to the entire CD and respond to our unsolicited demos. We got a phone call from Jade Tree just a few days after we dropped our demo in the mail… which was surprising given that we’d forgotten to include any contact info in the package.

Fortunately, there were enough mutual friends between us and the label that they were able to track us down, and later in the year we’d re-record the four demo songs plus ‘Drinking From The Necks Of The Ones You Love’ for the This Is Meant To Hurt You EP.”

In other news, the group have also announced some summer U.S. shows:

06/15 Denver, CO – Marquis Theater
06/16 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
06/18 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
07/07 Oakland, CA – Crybaby
07/08 Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex