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Firewater is an extremely unusual Post-Punk supergroup of sorts. Headed by former Cop Shoot Cop front man Tod A. (aka Ashley), the lineup also includes Duane Denison of The Jesus Lizard and Yuval Gabay of Soul Coughing. Don't expect this band to be frighteningly aggressive or a surreal amalgam of jazz and hip-hop. Firewater is a stunning group that convincingly tackles styles as diverse as Klezmer, Tango, Gypsy, and genuinely melodic Alternative Rock, all with a spirit of Post-Punk decadence. With album titles like, Get Off the Cross... We Need the Wood for the Fire, it's obvious that Ashley has lost none of his humor or ability to create controversy, but the range displayed by his new band is akin to the mercurial output of Tom Waits. His ability to voice his bile regarding society has not been dulled either, as evidenced in these lyrics from the song "Drunkard's Lament": "I've done every sh*t job/Handed out nose jobs / Made a few friends in the tombs/But I've found that in most cases/Fixin' the rat race is/Better than pushing a broom." A finer marriage of wonderful arrangements, consummate musicianship, and world music merged with punk would be difficult to find.
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