The Not-Pop Jukebox

I've bracketed the entire recording career of Firewater in this post to give you an idea of how much awesome you've missed. Twelve years, six albums, and you may never have heard of the band. That, my darlings, is my bread and butter. When I Burn This Place Down was released on their first album, "Get Off the Cross...We Need the Wood for the Fire" in 1996. 'Way back then, Firewater sounded more like Gogol Bordello than the native New Yorkers they are (at least, I think they are. The web seems to lack details on the origins of the gents in question beyond their other bands and projects.) Fast forward to 2008 and you get Three-Legged Dog, a fabulous song in its own right and a clear evolution of the sound to something cleaner but still retaining the energy and verve of the original album. That's the sort of progression I like to hear: better but still themselves.