Hot Water Music - 5 Albums [FLAC]

The Gainesville, FL-based post-hardcore quartet Hot Water Music was formed in 1994 by bassist Jason Black, drummer George Rebelo, and singers/guitarists Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard.

Albums:

No Division (1999)

The fourth full-length from this post-rock/hardcore/punk rock quartet is really just more of the same, but the same really isn't so bad. Those who love the band will certainly find it appealing, but those who were drawn in by earlier efforts will probably notice that the styles start to get a bit tired and that this record is at times a rehash of previous outings. With chugging guitars, plenty of energy, throaty screamed vocals, and no overwhelming hooks, the opening "Southeast First" is a pretty clear indication of what is to come. Amidst the usual crunchy noise, there are some interesting new guitar sounds the group experiments with on this record, and there are also some interesting new song structures given a preliminary run-through. From straight punk rock efforts to much more restrained and laid-back numbers, Hot Water Music made this record with no pretenses, and while it doesn't succeed in all aspects, they certainly couldn't be bothered. Triumphantly declaring their feelings on the endearing "Our Own Way," the band explains, "Who gives a f*ck what anybody says/We'll live and love until we're dead/Holding on to what we've come to know." HWM exist in a unique niche, and those who have grown to love it will certainly accept this album into loving arms.

1. SouthEast First
2. Free Radio Gainesville
3. Our Own Way
4. Its Hard To Know
5. At the End of a Gun
6. No Division
7. Jet Set Ready
8. Rooftops
9. Hit and Miss
10. Driving Home
11. In Song


Live at the Hardback (1999)

Live at the Hardback is a live recording of what was thought to be Hot Water Music's final show performed in 1999 and one of the last shows performed at The Hardback Cafe, in Florida. HWM announced at the show that they had decided not to break up. The album was released in 1999 by No Idea Records. 'Live At The Hardback' contains songs from the 'Moonpies For Misfits' EP.

1. Us & Chuck
2. Turnstile
3. Alachua
4. Blackjaw
5. Moments Pass
6. Where We Belong
7. Minno
8. Better Sense
9. Just Don't Say You Lost It
10. Springtime
11. Manual
12. Drunken Third


A Flight and a Crash (2001)

A Flight and a Crash doesn't represent a radical departure for Hot Water Music, but it is somewhat different from their past efforts. The group's sound, which reminds one of bands such as Leatherface and Avail, is still reasonably intact; one can still hear Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard's intense, gravelly vocals over their crisp, melodic guitars and the tight rhythm section of George Rebelo and Jason Black, and the lyrics still convey a sincere, confessional quality without succumbing to self-pity. This time, however, the singers sound a bit smoother and there is less interplay between them. Also, the band sounds more polished, the guitars sound warmer, the production sounds slicker, and the songs seem more intricate and varied (although they still flow together well). The songs don't have as much of a singalong anthemic quality as some of the band's previous material, but there are some well-placed shouts on "Jack of All Trades," for example. There are catchy numbers such as "Paper Thin" and even a ballad, "She Takes It," that manages to integrate Ragan and Wollard's scratchy singing with acoustic and steel guitar. Some fans may prefer an album that sounds faster, heavier, and rougher than this one, but others will enjoy this solid collection of songs from a band who continues to refine their craft.

1. A Flight and a Crash
2. Jack of All Trades
3. Paper Thin
4. Instrumental
5. Swinger
6. A Clear Line
7. Choked and Separated
8. Old Rules
9. Sons and Daughters
10. Sunday Suit
11. She Takes it So Well
12. One More Time
13. In the Gray
14. Call it Trashing


Alkaline Trio / Hot Water Music Split EP (2002)

Listeners will be sold on this EP; Hot Water Music's "God Deciding" is one of their best songs to date. Those guys are in such an incredible groove of solid releases right now that even their covers rank heads above most other rock or punk records out there. "God Deciding" features some of George Rebelo's best drumming to date and a frenzied chorus that will have the kids jumping around their rooms. "Russian Roulette" begins with an acoustic part and then expands into a punchy bridge and sparse chorus -- also very energetic. Hot Water Music's covers of two Alkaline Trio songs rank among the quietest songs that they have attempted. The acoustic version of "Bleeder" (a fantastic tune to begin with) is amazing. Alkaline Trio also drop three songs on here. The first, "Queen of Pain," is one of their best, proving that they are one of the best bands at tapping into the heart of relationships, which for the majority of Alkaline Trio songs means dysfunctional relationships. Their second tune, "While You're Waiting," consists of pretty good slabs of their morose punk-pop and a cover of the stellar Hot Water Music tune "Rooftops," which is given a pretty subdued, yet poppy treatment.

4. God Deciding
5. Russian Roulette
6. Radio (Alkaline Trio cover)
7. Bleeder (Alkaline Trio cover)


Caution (2002)

Picking up where A Flight and a Crash left off, Hot Water Music is all about delivering tight and melodic hardcore on Caution. With even less vocal interplay between singers, the band further refines its music and allows its songs to shimmer with more production gloss. This only helps the group, which has an incredibly tight sound but hasn't always had the resources to make sure it sounded right. Here you can hear every little guitar flourish and snare snap nicely, which reveals the wealth of excellent melodies and lyrics the band is capable of. Every song hits the ground running, offering bountiful amounts of anthemic choruses and ringing guitars, while the music alternates between flattening listeners with a sonic barrage ("It's All Related") and lightheartedly bringing them along for the ride ("Not for Anyone"). Most importantly, the bandmembers display variety that doesn't intrude on their songwriting style but instead complements their thuggish attitude and aggressive delivery. They manage this by taking the general structure (i.e., fast tempos, singalong choruses, dynamic chord changes) and tweaking it so that certain songs are guitar-heavy romps while others allow the bass to carry the vocals on a bouncing beat. They've always hinted at this sort of songwriting strength, but they just needed the right people behind the boards to bring it out of them. By offering stronger melodies than last time but generally following the same pattern, Caution is the strongest album from the band since Fuel for the Hate Game.

1. Remedy
2. Trusty Chords
3. I Was On A Mountain
4. One Step To Slip
5. It's All Related
6. The Sense
7. Not For Anyone
8. Sweet Disasters
9. Alright For Now
10. We'll Say Anything We Want
11. Wayfarer
12. The End


The New What Next (2004)

New What Next's "Keep It Together" sounds like vintage Afghan Whigs, and maybe that's all you need to know about Hot Water Music's third Epitaph effort. The vets from the FLA have added a further postscript to their post-hardcore rumble, veering into a melodic yet slightly jaded maturity resembling that of Gentlemen-era Whigs. The Alkaline Trio's catchy, punky fatalism is another touchstone for what New What Next offers; Hot Water Music also provides a few satisfying holdovers from their early-2000s output. (The stinging double-time clap of "This Early Grave," for example.) But in the melodic meantime, "Under Every Thing" and "All Heads Down" back up "Together" with tense and cynical barbed wire meditations. Distant guitar sustain wrangles around a prickly ride cymbal as Chris Wollard and Chuck Ragan harmonize on the latter's lyrical venom. "All I ask is how we carry on/Tricked and blind, raped and robbed"; "...In the end, you're on your own" -- are they referring to government dirty tricks, or a more personally cynical world view? The latter seems truer given HWM's somewhat trying existence, band fragmentation and underappreciation being two big issues. "Poison"'s latent Fugazi-isms are softened by echoing Brian McTernan production and plaintive lead vocals, "End of the Line" is a rawer, seasoned-rocker version of the rager being written by every junior varsity Warped Tour hopeful, and "My Little Monkey Wrench" is as touching a love letter as the underground has in 2004. Veterans always endure adversity at some point; the pros put it back into their music, and Hot Water Music certainly has. What's come next is more controlled and sobering, and shows signs of the lives they've lived around the hard core.

1. Poison
2. The End of the Line
3. All Heads Down
4. My Little Monkey Wrench
5. Under Everything
6. There Are Already Roses
7. Keep It Together
8. The Ebb And Flow
9. Bottomless Seas
10. Ink And Lead
11. This Early Grave
12. Giver