Fireants
Fireants
Reviewed by Raoul Hernandez, Fri., May 29, 2009
Fireants
Thirteen-plus minutes turns out to be more than enough time for the Fireants to swarm Austin. The local quintet's four-song debut boasts such easy chemistry of Southwestern sound and song, such integration of instrumentation, that the brief EP indeed leaves one hungry for more. Opener "Emily D.," undercut somewhat by frontman Ian Stewart's vocals, which though confident nevertheless sound like they're waiting for his voice to change, still shuffles winningly on the beat of drummer Victor Ziolkowski, Zeke Jarmon's CCR guitar work, and Stewart's fiddle and mandolin. Foggy mountain instrumental "Hinterland" avoids the vocal issue altogether, Stewart's mandolin a paddleboat in Ziolkowski's wake and Jarmon's picking. "Hold What You Got" jaunts across Steven Campbell's riverboat keyboards. The group saves the best for last in "Deuce Is Loose," Stewart this time stepping lively into a countrified take on G. Love's laid-back Southern rap with the song's refrain, "Can you dig it?" As the Fireants themselves confirm, yes we can.