Rumbleseat is a side project of Chris and Chuck from Hot Water Music. It is a dirty acoustic rock
and country hoedown. It is gritty and heartfelt and just plain enjoyable. Each song on the 18-track
"Rumbleseat is Dead" - apparently the bands final recording, after several 7" records and a compilation
appearance - has the feel of fun at the campfire.

There are no drums on this record; it's just Chris and Chuck singing, strumming their guitars and
Samantha Jones with a bass and some back up vocals, along with occassional harmonica - it sounds
like they went on a weekend retreat and just sat around to have some fun. And you can tell
that is almost exactly what they did. The songs here are about drinking and fighting and
friendship and perseverance and politics and movin on - they are songs that have that tinge of old
country anthems, but still have enough acoustic rock power to keep the ear of the youngins. The harsh
vocals of Chris and Chuck are appealing over top the clean guitars, the contrast makes it sound more
urgent and indispensable, and especially when Samantha lends her more angelic vocals to the mix on
several songs, the combination is intriguing and sounds like a round-robin of fun. Although these
songs are all sparsely arranged, they each feel full, they have an everyman story and they are
upbeat and easy to clap along to.

From the first song, "California Burritos," the vocals are forceful, but inviting, and are not drowned
out by the aggressive guitar strumming going on. One of the most interesting tracks is "Moonshiner,"
an Uncle Tupelo cover song. It takes a fairly gentle, subdued drunk rollicking song, and toughens
it up a bit, bringing out some heartache and some gristle.

There is a lot of heartache and gristle on this album, all the songs seemed dipped in coal dust. Each
track sounds similar, but has its own flavor, the lyrics about avoiding God and raising hell and
trying to make a mark and live right, and the quick sweet chords of the acoustic guitars propel
you through each song, Half of the tracks are untitled, but that doesn't matter, there is a
name for all these songs, "quality jam."

RUMBLESEAT

NO IDEA RECORDS

Reviewed by : Mike Hammer