Review → Hot Water Music – No Division (1999)
Hot Water Music - No Division
Hot Water Music broke up in 1996. But unless you were a serious fan, you wouldn’t have known it; at their farewell show, recorded as the 1999 Live at the Hardback album, they announced that they were gonna keep the band going after all. And it’s a good thing they did, as the Gainesville quartet ended up recording a string of incredible albums.
If you want to get a listing of the band’s discography, go to Punknews.org and comment asking which Hot Water Music album is the best. You’ll be treated to a LOT of comments, and every album the band released will be mentioned at some point in the (very long) thread. However, if you take the average, you’ll probably end up with two of their albums coming out on top: 1998′s Fuel for the Hate Game, and 1999′s No Division.
One thing a listener will notice about this album is that, for a band so loved by punk rock kids, and tagged as hardcore/post-hardcore, the tempos never approach the blistering speeds of hardcore bands like Minor Threat or Bad Brains. The music here is more tuneful, and concerned about establishing melody. I think it’s significant that the bass is very distinct in opener “Southeast First.” Not to say the music is slow. Yes, there’s distortion, and the guitars certainly power along at a fair clip.
Vocals here are traded off between guitarists Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard. Chuck Ragan’s voice is very distinctive; his hoarse barks are immediately recognizable, whereas Wollard’s voice has a smoother quality to it. The differences between the two are highlighted at the moments when the two sing together, such as on “Radio Free Gainesville.” It creates another interesting texture the band works with. Most songs on the album contain vocals from both singers (later albums would see each singer taking songs pretty much on their own).
There are a lot of excellent songs on here. Not all are ready to incite a mosh, but that’s not always the point (blasphemy!). The title track, the songs mentioned above, “Rooftops” (later covered on HWM’s excellent split with Alkaline Trio), among others all shine. The remaining songs are all very good, too; this is an excellent front-to-back album. Not as pop-friendly overall as their albums could be (see: Caution), but this is an excellent starting point for those looking to get into Hot Water Music’s catalog.
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