If you're like me and are fascinated by world travel (or at least the idea of it), and miss the spirit of Joe Strummer, there's a band that literally made their latest album The Golden Hour at all corners of the globe and fronted by a globetrotting, gruff-sounding frontman. His name is Tod A. and the band is Firewater.
Tod jetted outa here to escape contemporary issues at home (both political and personal). And like a sad clown, Firewater's music brings the tear-swelling melancholy of Balkan and gypsy sounds with the joyful sounds of an Indian wedding (if you've ever seen the reception scene in Bend It Like Bekham, you get an idea of that kind of joy). The music is percussive, world-embracing, yet still jadedly punk rock. Tod's lyrics reflect his travels to Indonesia, Thailand and Israel and the lead off track to the The Golden Hour, the chanty "Borneo" tells you all you need to know about why he left the US.
Check out the min-documentary on this amazing band.
