Albums by this artist

End Time (1999)

Freakwater

End Time

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» MARK T.R. DONOHUE | STAFF WRITER

Freakwater End Time Thrill Jockey, 1999 RiYL: Carter Family, Giant Sand, Wilco, Joe Henry

I thought I was going to be among the enlightened few forever. I thought Freakwater were going to keep making stark, entirely acoustic, drumless albums with timeless lyrics and powerful harmonies. And I thought for as long as they did, the majority of indie rockers were going to stay the hell away from them. Springtime, an amazingly good -- but very genre-specific, and that genre being old, old, old school mountain country -- record that, as some records will be, just wasn't right for everybody. Modern music listeners simply aren't attuned to Freakwater -- they're not used to hearing music so plain, unadorned, and straightforward. I know I was certainly surprised the first time I played one of their records.

Finally making some sort of a conciliatory step to get Catherine Irwin's fabulous songs heard by a larger audience, End Time drops the Carter Family obsession and takes up with a drummer. The result is a very good No Depression record which will likely appeal to fans of (earlier) Wilco, Son Volt, and the Old '97s. It's also a record that will probably agitate Freakwater purists.

Not there's nothing lo-fi to be found anywhere on End Time. "Sick, Sick, Sick," with only crackly slide guitar and Irwin's plain vocals, could have come right off the Harry Smith Folk Anthology. Most of the record, however, is (comparatively) lush country rock with slippery pedal steels, ringing Telecasters, and Janet Bean's on-target-as-usual harmony vocals. Freakwater does suffer from the loss of former Wilco multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston, who lent a sackful of stringed instruments to Springtime in addition to one of its best songs, "Harlan."

For fans of the old Freakwater, it will be an adjustment, but for the casual indie rocker, End Time is probably the best introduction to the band available. "Good For Nothing" and "When The Leaves Begin To Fall" display Irwin's knack for wordplay and simple, resonating lyrics, "Dog Gone Wrong" is a little slyer, telling a funny story about a sheepdog going over to the dark side. Basically, there's nothing to complain about. Music wouldn't be much fun if every album sounded just like the last one, eh? But seeing as how Freakwater has moved from an area of music in which they were virtually alone to one that's recently become crowded, from the Bottle Rockets to Richard Buckner, one has to be a little worried as to who's going to pick up the torch of stark mountain music. It's not the most desirable thing to carry, you know?

MARK T.R. DONOHUE | Mark T.R. Donohue is a prolific freelance writer whose areas of expertise include Rockies baseball, video games, genre television, English soccer, and pub rock. He lives in Colorado, where he cultivates the largest and creepiest private collection of Alyson Hannigan memorabilia in the Mountain West.