Search - Freakwater :: Dancing Under Water

Rereleased in 1997, Freakwater's 1991 full-length debut shows a band that's enthralled by country's dark, dismal, and austere acoustic tradition, but one that's bold enough to forge a new dirt path. They aim right for life's tough questions, but most are left unresolved. Catherine Ann Irwin daringly commands you to "tell your God that he's a liar" on her own "Blood and Fire," then calls out for "His great wisdom" on the very next song, Leon Payne's "Selfishness in Man." Classics such as the crying "Rank Strangers," Bill Monroe's "Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake," and Merle Travis's "Dark as a Dungeon" perfectly mesh with Freakwater's bleak aesthetic. Irwin's originals discuss subjects like companionship-in-a-bottle and unfulfilled expectations, and with such weighty matters abound, a song about getting bombed over lost love (George Jones's "You're Still on My Mind") becomes the album's happiest song. Jon Spiegel's Dobro and pedal steel and John Rice's fiddle and mandolin accent the rusty-nail harmonies of Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean and contribute to the far-away tone. --Marc Greilsamer