This summer I moved into a townhouse situated right on the main drag of some dirtbag party neighborhood. That means that I now have a basement, and in that basement I have a Bluetooth speaker hanging from the rafters. We can put two and two together to realize that that means I’ve spent the majority of my summer smoking pot and listening to records in my basement. One day I’m chilling down there, sharing a bottle of Kim Crawford and a doink with my wife, when they put this song on; it’s a thumpy and mellow spoken word thing ripped right out of the 90s grunge scene. I inquired and found that we were listening to “Never Going Back To L.A.” by Snorkler. This, of course, begged the question: who is Snorkler?
Well, Snorkler is the solo project of one Curtis Heimburger, the Vancouver-based rocker formerly of Mom Rock. Heimburger made his debut as Snorkler in 2020 with the single “Give It Some Thought.” A second single, “You Know You Want To!,” followed just two months later. After this, Snorkler went into hiatus for five years while Heimburger focused his efforts on Mom Rock. In January of 2025, Mom Rock broke up, leaving Curtis a free agent. That July, Snorkler released a new single, “Slow Burn,” and announced that his first EP was on the way. The EP, “No Power,” dropped in October 2025, featuring two previously released singles and a new track, “It’s So Hopeless.” Three months later, in January 2026, Snorkler began releasing singles again, so far dropping a total of four this year, with the latest being “Never Going Back To L.A.”
The song opens with a heavy bass line and a spiraling guitar riff. From here it goes into what makes up the majority of the song: spoken word segments with the bass line and a steady maraca beat in the back. It’s a very imposing sound; there’s something inherently malicious about it, like the hand drum and shaker-infused instrumental of The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.” It’s all the venom of an industrial metal song with the glitz and glamor of a Mass Ave. gigolo. Soon the guitar returns, ushering in the chorus, a fight to the death between the bass and guitar over which Heimburger shouts about how much Los Angeles sucks. The song is a whirlwind of rhythm and bass with screaming guitars mixed in throughout like bits of scrap metal peppered into a tornado. It’s the kind of tune that demands a speaker that rattles its environment at least enough to make you feel the bass in your teeth.
If you’re the kind of high-octane freak that needs a new booming song to play at maximum volume as you tear along the interstate at night, it’s your lucky day; this one’s for you. If you’re some slack-jawed pothead sitting in your basement listening to music with your wife, good news; this one is peer-verified! Whatever your poison is, this is a great track to put on while you’re downing it. You can find “Never Going Back To L.A.” streaming wherever you get your music now, so now is the time to go and find it. In the meantime, this basement isn’t going to hotbox itself.
Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 28, 2020
