Awhile back, I heard that a band called Firewater had signed to HearYa label favorite Bloodshot Records. I was not very familiar with the band or its inspiring force, Tod A and what I had read and the couple of tunes I heard on MySpace didn’t get my juices flowing at first. Then at the Bloodshot BBQ at SXSW, as I was drinking my free Shiner beer and reveling in the Ha Ha Tonka set, Firewater emerged. It took only one tune for me to state to my buddy, “Damn, these guys are awesome.”

The unique sound on Firewater’s new release, The Golden Hour, comes from Tod A’s three year odyssey through the Middle East. He played and recorded with a whole host of musicians, utilizing a number of instruments that until the recent success of Balkan Beat Box and Gogol Bordello, were not very familiar to the indie crowd.

Their sound reminds me of one of my favorite Pogues tunes, “Turkish Song of The Damned.” Actually, although Tod A has all his teeth and is not Irish, his delivery reminds me of Shane McGowan. It’s not the sound so much but more his attitude as songs seem to be delivered with a bit of sneer.

The lead track “Borneo” is a foot-stomping rabble-rouser that is made whole by backing vocals that are more like chants than singing and they mesh perfectly with Tod A’s sneering delivery. “6:45 (This is How It Feels)” slows things down and Tod A sings of a long, exhausting day and you can almost see him resting on the streets of Istanbul.

If you are a looking for a phenomenal mish-mash of punk, gypsy, ska and Middle Eastern sounds (and probably a few that I am forgetting) look no further. The Golden Hour is a blender of genres.

MySpace | Bloodshot Records

Firewater - Borneo

Firewater - 3-Legged Dog