Smoke Or Fire- This Sinking Ship CD/LP
Where to begin with Smoke Or Fire? Let’s see…I first became familiar with them back in (if I recall correctly) 2001 when I used to be part of the CORE collective, which ran an info center/show space in St. Pete. This little band from Boston named Jericho got in touch with us for a show. They sent us a promo package with a write up of who they are, as well as a CDr. For one reason or another they never played, but I rocked that CDr out so much. The songs were so good. Later on they got in touch with me again about a show, and I booked them at some skate shop in Dunedin with my old band, The Pace That Kills. Again that show fell through, but I never lost touch with the bass player Ken. I also remember him telling me that if we ever needed a show to get in touch. Maybe a year went by, and I was in the Rogue Set, and they had moved to Richmond. It was time for us to venture out of the hot confines of Florida, so Ken booked us a house show with them, This Town Is An Anchor, and Boxing Water. From that point on every time they needed a show here I would book them with the premise that they would reciprocate. Friendships were built.
A few years passed and I got the opportunity to watch them grow. They went on some pretty cool tours, eventually signed to Fat Wreck, and put out a pretty amazing record “Above the City.” I remember around that time (just prior to the release) they had to change their name to Smoke Or Fire for legal reasons. They toured that record to death, and then it was time to start the writing/recording process again. Unfortunately Nick (the old drummer) parted ways, and Dave from From Ashes Rise took his place, which I found to be pretty interesting. Would this change their sound at all? I mean, from listening to his previous bands work, he seemed like a pretty awesome drummer, but was also very intense, focusing a lot of his time on blast beats and power drumming.
Well my friends, the answers would be answered with this release. In one word “This Sinking Ship” is awesome. In fact as much as I loved their first release “Workers Union” and “Above the City” this album by and far blows them out of the water. The song writing sounds much more mature. Not mature in the sense where bands like Hot Water Music started to lose the intensity and passion. Developed would be a better description. Though the songs on their previous album were great, the biggest criticism that I had was that they were too damn short. There wasn’t enough time for the songs to develop to their full potential. That problem does not persist on this album. The songs are longer, and you can tell close attention was paid to the melody, which is no easy task for a band that is geographically spread out across this country. Trust me, I have first hand experience with that one.
As much as I loved Nick (he was a great drummer I might add) Dave was definitely a great choice. In the course of a song he will change up the tempo but he doesn’t go overboard which is a problem that I think hampers so many other bands. Rather, it adds a different, interesting element to the songs. What I’ve always loved about Smoke Or Fire is their ability to write well crafted punk songs with a melodic/pop hook. This album is no different. There are pop hooks galore, but at the same time there are different styled songs (when making a comparison to their previous recordings) that make this album multidimensional. Just listen to “Cars” which has sort of an off Kilter beginning, but doesn’t lose its inherent poppiness or drive.
Many people put them in the same sphere of thinking as bands like HWM or Avail, and I can see why they’d do that for the reviewers lack of originality when doing his/her respective job. Yes, they do have an intense melodic quality like the previously mentioned bands, but there is definitely something there that separates them from the pack, making it hard to put them in the same niche. I always thought comments like such, no matter how flattering it may be tends to cheapen what that band is doing. If anything this album will define them further from other peoples preconceived notions of the band. I don’t want to make predictions just yet, but I think this will easily be one of my top 10 favorite records of the year.
PS, “Folding the Pages” is easily one of the best songs they’ve ever written!
