Hot Water Music - Forever and Counting (Doghouse, 1997)

I first heard Hot Water Music in 1997 on the Don't Forget to Breathe compilation on Crank! records. I know someday I will write about that pivotal release featuring 2 bands I already loved and 15 more I would learn to instantly. Their track on the mix, Elektra, was nothing short of what I thought hard core was. It still had melody and it still had rhythm, just doused with raspy voices singing meaningful words, complementing each other, sturdy bass lines and drums that ask you to turn it up louder and louder. This band sounded like a true family that cared for each other, stood up for one another and had each other's back - team players I guess.

I can't remember where I found Forever and Counting but I am fairly sure they were on the post-it note in my wallet to look up next time I was in a record store. From the first time I heard this record to this last time, I still get the same sense that the album is circular and never ends. Where the last track, Western Grace, just feeds right back into the first, Translocation and forever it goes. "Its like a carousel. You put the quarter in, you get on the horse, it goes up and down, and around. Circular, circle. Feel it. Go with the flow." (name that movie)

HWM has become a standard for me in my collection that I go to time and time again. Few bands continue to build yet stay the same these days and these guys from Gainesville always produced a great rock record and made me feel more like a man for liking them. Mitch, my trusty punk and hard core fanatic from college, loved HWM too and I always felt like it made up for all the fluffy bands that I played on my radio show that he thought were crappy (Belle and Sebastian, Velocity Girl, Very Secretary). I would throw in a HWM track just to keep him listening.

After a short haitus, due to a band member having to care for his family, HWM are back touring and recording. I anxiously await their next release and hope thier collection continues to be Forever and Counting...

"Now is when to question the questions." Just Don't Say You Lost It