Thanks in part to
Tod A
's immediately recognizable sing-speak-rasp,
Firewater
's debut follows along easily from the wreckage of
Cop Shoot Cop
. If the music is less self-consciously anti-rock rock and more late-night seedy nightclub meets gypsy hoe-down, the same sense of bitter snarling against a messed-up world reigns paramount. Swaggering right on in with the strutting kick of
"Some Strange Reaction,"
the hilariously titled
Get Off the Cross
finds
rejuvenated, once again creating music out to steer away from the mainstream rather than slot into it.
Yuval Gabay
is his key collaborator here, his fluid playing as easily able to reference Latin jazz as it does klezmer and straight-up rock rhythms. It's the same skill
Gabay
brings to
Soul Coughing
. The range of participating musicians is a delight, with
Doug Henderson
's production and mixing deserving notice for how he makes everything leap from the speaker with maximum impact. Overall,
wins some understandable comparisons to
Tom Waits
' twisted cabaret work of the 1980s, but it's more a connection of general form instead of sound. Both
and
Waits
clearly have an appreciation for all sorts of things, but
's less murky and withdrawn, more ready to rock a party hard (just give a listen to
"I am the Rain,"
actually one of the band's most straightforward songs, sonically). A lot of the songs here have similar general arrangements, but the energy and sheer fun of the songs help overcome the slight sameness, as does the occasional smoky lead vocal by
Jennifer Charles
. If nothing else,
still has a great line in song titles --
"When I Burn This Place Down,"
"Snake Eyes and Boxcars,"
"Mr. Cardiac"
are all winners. ~ Ned Raggett