Hot Snakes soon got back together to record another album, this time with Wood on board in the studio. Tracked at Reis' home studio, 2002's Suicide Invoice saw the band branching out a bit from the primal garage punk sound of its debut. The band headed out on tour after the record's release. When they returned, Kourkounis left the band and joined
Burning Brides. He was replaced by Mario Rubalcaba, who was also playing in
RFTC, and Hot Snakes went back to the studio to cut their third album for
Swami. Reis' studio had burned down not long before, so the foursome headed to Big Fish Studio to work again with recording engineer Ben Moore. Audit in Progress was released in late 2004 and the band decamped to Europe for a tour soon after. While in England, they had the honor of recording one of the last Peel Sessions before John Peel's passing. The session was issued by
Swami in 2005. The band also toured Australia that year, recording a Triple J Radio radio session in May that was released by
Swami in 2006. By that time, the bandmembers had decided to take a break from playing together. Reis concentrated on
Sultans and running
Swami, while Froberg returned to his day job.
By 2008,
Sultans were done, Reis had a new band (with Wood on guitar and Kourkounis on drums) called
the Night Marchers, and Froberg had formed a new combo called
the Obits. When the two bands shared the bill at a 2010 show in San Diego, they revisited the glory days of Hot Snakes by getting together to play a handful of songs, This spurred short reunion tours in 2011 and 2012, with both Kourkounis and Rubalcaba helming the drums. After those gigs, the band went dark again until the two longtime friends decided in 2017 that the time was right to get back into the studio. With a lineup that included Wood on bass and the dual-drum attack of Kourkounis and Rubalcaba, the band spent a year recording in San Diego and Philadelphia, with longtime collaborator Ben Moore recording and mixing the songs. They signed with
Sub Pop Records and the label reissued their first three albums early in 2018 as a taster for the upcoming record. The stripped-down and powerful Jericho Sirens was released in March of 2018. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi