Hot Snakes - Checkmate

What this video is

Released in November–December 2019, 'Checkmate' arrives one year after Hot Snakes' critically lauded comeback album Jericho Sirens (2018, Sub Pop), itself the band's first studio LP in 14 years. The video drops at a moment when post-hardcore legacy acts — particularly those from the San Diego underground of the 1990s — were receiving renewed critical and fan attention. Hot Snakes occupy a historically significant…

Why it matters

Hot Snakes are a foundational act in post-hardcore's second wave, directly connecting mid-1990s San Diego noise-rock with the 2000s garage-punk revival. 'Checkmate' demonstrates the genre's continued vitality in a streaming era, sustaining the band's signature hyper-compressed, riff-first…

The director

John Reis (b. 1969, San Diego, CA), also known as Speedo, Slasher, and The Swami, is an American musician, guitarist, record label owner, and DJ. He is best known as singer/guitarist of Rocket from the Crypt (1990–2005), and co-founded Hot Snakes in 1999…