ewe2
09-03-2006, 02:39 AM
where are you going to find your peace
a story or a life?
if we've learned how to live
fear will find no room
exchange conversation if you dare
to share an empty thought or a laugh
is everything here connected
the candle and the flame?
there's no reason to think so
and just as much to not
I'd be a fool to say either way
-- The Candle And The Flame
A vital influence on the album was ex-Black Flag basswoman Kira Roessler, who began a writing (and for some time a married) relationship with Mike Watt, and co-wrote nearly half the album; in her hands, the Watt sound and direction really flourished. None of this would have happened if Watt hadn't already been involved with SST Records, so the favourable conditions for this unusual debut were many and various.
When I first heard this album back in 1986, it was stunning. I never got around to getting a fIREHOSE album but I never forgot those songs, it would be impossible to. The band's output would vary and refine from here on, but this debut is still a classic. fIREHOUSE took two important components from the Minutemen: keep songs the length of the thought, and give them the structure of the thought, not bend the thought to a song structure.
Brave Captain is an immediately catchy and restrained polemic. Under The Influence of Meat Puppets and It Matters with Watts wonderfully daft basslines illustrates the idea of compact ideas with no thought for convention. By the time Chemical Wires barnstorms in, there is no doubt this band is onto something different. Another Theory Shot To Shit and On Your Knees are more political frustration, then we switch to more personal thoughts on Locked-In and the sublime The Candle And The Flame. A general pattern in the songwriting is emerging of contrasting musical moods, made of anything they can put together, odd little bass runs or a drum rhythm combined with a guitar riff. Crawford's voice floats over it all with astonishing control. Choose Any Memory is the godfather of many a college band's sound, while Perfect Pairs alternately skas and marches. This completely changes pace with a simple guitar tune predating conventional rock ballads by a good 5 years. Caroma booms along with an almost naked and enigmatic lyric and the catchiest bass out. Relatin' Dudes To Jazz is another thought-piece and I still have no idea what it's about! Things Could Turn Around completes the album, a more contemplative and relatively conventional song, which will have you yelling "REM are a rip-off!", but can you blame them?
This album will seriously surprise you when you keep in mind just how pioneering it was for its time. After 20 years it's still fresh, accomplished and experimental. That's a hell of a wrap for any debut, and says something about the music of today that we are still trapped within the confines of conventional thinking. fIREHOSE fans might disagree about where this album sits in the fIREHOSE canon, but compare it to anything else and its a different world. Come and listen to it.
a story or a life?
if we've learned how to live
fear will find no room
exchange conversation if you dare
to share an empty thought or a laugh
is everything here connected
the candle and the flame?
there's no reason to think so
and just as much to not
I'd be a fool to say either way
-- The Candle And The Flame
A vital influence on the album was ex-Black Flag basswoman Kira Roessler, who began a writing (and for some time a married) relationship with Mike Watt, and co-wrote nearly half the album; in her hands, the Watt sound and direction really flourished. None of this would have happened if Watt hadn't already been involved with SST Records, so the favourable conditions for this unusual debut were many and various.
When I first heard this album back in 1986, it was stunning. I never got around to getting a fIREHOSE album but I never forgot those songs, it would be impossible to. The band's output would vary and refine from here on, but this debut is still a classic. fIREHOUSE took two important components from the Minutemen: keep songs the length of the thought, and give them the structure of the thought, not bend the thought to a song structure.
Brave Captain is an immediately catchy and restrained polemic. Under The Influence of Meat Puppets and It Matters with Watts wonderfully daft basslines illustrates the idea of compact ideas with no thought for convention. By the time Chemical Wires barnstorms in, there is no doubt this band is onto something different. Another Theory Shot To Shit and On Your Knees are more political frustration, then we switch to more personal thoughts on Locked-In and the sublime The Candle And The Flame. A general pattern in the songwriting is emerging of contrasting musical moods, made of anything they can put together, odd little bass runs or a drum rhythm combined with a guitar riff. Crawford's voice floats over it all with astonishing control. Choose Any Memory is the godfather of many a college band's sound, while Perfect Pairs alternately skas and marches. This completely changes pace with a simple guitar tune predating conventional rock ballads by a good 5 years. Caroma booms along with an almost naked and enigmatic lyric and the catchiest bass out. Relatin' Dudes To Jazz is another thought-piece and I still have no idea what it's about! Things Could Turn Around completes the album, a more contemplative and relatively conventional song, which will have you yelling "REM are a rip-off!", but can you blame them?
This album will seriously surprise you when you keep in mind just how pioneering it was for its time. After 20 years it's still fresh, accomplished and experimental. That's a hell of a wrap for any debut, and says something about the music of today that we are still trapped within the confines of conventional thinking. fIREHOSE fans might disagree about where this album sits in the fIREHOSE canon, but compare it to anything else and its a different world. Come and listen to it.