Customer Reviews

Ponzi Scheme (Metal Box)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is definitely not your everyday music. It's in the same zip-code as They Might Be Giants, but several shades darker. While listening to some of these songs I felt as though I were embroiled in some '40s detective novel. Some of their punchlines in songs like "Droppin' Like Flies" and "Green Light" just gave me that feeling. It's almost like listening to an entire CD of songs in the same vein as Elvis Costello's "Watchin' the Detectives." Another thing that sets them apart from their peers is their texture. The regular use of varied instruments helps keep your attention. You don't feel like they're just grinding it out. If you're looking for something more inventive and entertaining, this is for you.

wow...if you like evil clowns and twisted carnivals (and who doesn't?), then this is the album for you. there is a definite tom waitsy, nick cavish feeling to it, with a more marching-band feeling than they usually have. the first time i heard this, i had to pick up the ray bradbury book "something wicked this way comes," which i hadn't read in years and believe me, this was the perfect soundtrack for that eerie story.

there are quite a few delicious songs on this record - i usually play the whole thing through without skipping any tracks...always a good thing when you can do that, eh? the first song i fell in love with and repeated over and over and over - well, you get the idea - was "so long, superman," a marvelous escape-from-my-mundane-life song...a theme that's been tackled a time or two in musical history but is still enjoyable when it's done with some creativity. "i still love you, judas" has some awesome lines in it, (like the one i used in the title) and "isle of dogs" is another of my favourites. i actually know a girl who got a lyric from that song tattoed on her right shoulder. i don't like it quite enough to do that but this guy is definitely a poet and that's one of the reasons why i listen to this record all the time - he comes up with some very unique and post-modern lyrics and those along with the organ-grinder tinged sound makes for a listening experience unlike too many out there.

I love this CD so much, all of the songs have their own distinct sound, and so does the band. The instruments used in each of the songs are very unique, and they help to create a distinct mood with each of the songs. The drum beats are great, and so is everything else. I would reccomend this CD to anyone that is fed up with mainstream music and is looking for something new.

FIREWATER is just about the best Indie band working out there today. The music is everything from dark spy themes to smoky tangoes to mexican marching music, all of it done with a wry sense of humor and a little angst thrown in for good meason. Tod's lyrics are poetic and, at times, heart-breaking. For a real treat, see 'em live.

Oh, and there's two misprints. "El Borracho" is now called "Ponzi's Relapse" and there's one more track before "Knock 'Em Down" and that is: "I Still Love You, Judas".

excellent drinking music! the sense of religious irony cannot be matched

Very dark circus music is how a friend of mine described this CD. That is kind of close. The songs have commercial appeal, but the lyrics are pitch black and more than a tad disturbing. I stumbled upon this CD by accident, did not even know what the name of the band was for quite awhile, just listened to it over and over. I have bought several of their other CDs since, but this is their best. Kind of a cross between Oingo Boingo and Tom Waits.

This is one of the most outstanding, creative albums I have had the pleasure of listening to in recent memory. I personally find this to be the better of Firewater's two efforts. They move farther away from sounding like a Tom Waits knock off and really stretch out, grab the music and lyrics and give it a twist. Their talent for outstanding metaphor and irony is unmatched.

This is a great album. Tod A. doesn't hesitate mocking anything, including himself. I'm sure his time in the Pokey influenced this album greatly. I enjoy this record so much I hate to tell others about it for fear that I will lose the feeling that this music belongs to me. It's a great album. Buy it.

The Ponzi Scheme by Firewater is a grand work of eclectic sounds and passionate vocal performance. The instrumentals (Ponzi's Theme and El Borracho) pack the same wallop as those with lyrics. The mixing is excellent and the music is very well written and performed (particularly beautiful are Drunkard's Lament and Isle of Dogs). Knock 'Em Down mocks Christian based beliefs while holding the sound of a televangelist gospel song (only a lot better). So Long Superman captures attention from me merely for the campiness of superheros, I Still Love You Judas is very well built. The vocals of Tod A. are full of emotion and anger while still sounding jaded. Though they are rough to the untrained ear, they mix eloquently with the music. The lyrics themselves are some of the best I've ever read or heard and could stand alone on the page were they intended for that.

Another great album by Todd Ashley and fellow conspirators. The punk fused mix into spy themes and world is unique. There music would appeal to most musicans or people in the business. My only complaint is that the industry doesn't give them any air time. But some things never change!!!