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.

***

This article appears in May 29 • 2009.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.