People who find this band excellent or entertaining have an intimate love affair with them and their blue collar, dirt under the fingernails, dyed in the wool punk rock. It was a sad day indeed when this foursome of the people called it quits (for the second or third time in their existence) after leaving behind a swath of full lengths, EPs, singles, and splits. Till the Wheels Fall Off gathers the singles, splits, and compilation appearances as well as one unreleased song that Hot Water Music made during their first or second reunion-era of their career (ugh, that is an ugly sounding word in this instance) which basically started with their split seven inch record with Six Going on Seven until their break-up following The New What Next.
The grand sound of ringing guitars ringing out announce the beginning of Till the Wheels Fall Off and the vocals remind one that "Kill the Night" is from the Epitaph-era of the band and in actuality is from the Rock Against Bush Vol. 2 compilation. Originally found on the tenth installment of Epitaph's Punk 'O Rama series, "Last Goodbyes" contains some truly catchy vocal hooks that enhance the slower tempo of the song. "Seein' Diamonds" hails from the ninth installment of that same label's Punk 'O Rama series and is one of Hot Water Music's most melodic moments on record. The lone unreleased track that can be found on this entire collection, "Home" would have found a good spot (I will not be that obvious, I refuse) on The New What Next whose sessions from which this song is culled; the track sounds like some of the better material from that album but with maybe a tad bit more of a nostalgic or regretful sound. From the sound of the vocal performance and music, "So Many Days" might be a recording from the band's pre-Epitaph days.
As "God Deciding" kicks off the section of the collection that includes songs from the band's split recordings (this one and the next several songs comprise all of the material that was originally on the split with Alkaline Trio and in the same track sequence at that); it is actually my favorite song from that particular split. Then Till the Wheels Fall Off puts a selection of songs from the split with Leatherface (for those who do not know, Leatherface was a huge influence on the sound of Hot Water Music and this split was a big deal for them) which actually is some very underrated material from the Gainesville boys. "Caught Up," "Wrong and Righteous," and "Take It as It Comes" are vintage Hot Water Music, super gruff, rough vocals and simpler guitar parts than the later era stuff (which in my opinion made for more emotional sounding music).
Till the Wheels Come Off then groups together a batch of covers that are scattered about on various compilations and split releases that the band participated in over the years surrounding some of the songs from the Moonpies for Misfits EP. "Jaded Eyes" is a Government Issue cover that can also be found on Hot Water Music's split with The Casket Lottery; it is a neat cover that belongs here for the completeness of this collection but otherwise is not that amazing of a song (the Hot Water Music version anyway). The band's cover of the Midnight Oil (what???) song "Dreamworld" actually shows Hot Water Music doing some different vocal arrangements than I am used to them doing (for that matter, the whole song sounds very different at times); the Turbonegro song that they cover, "Prince of the Rodeo," definitely lacks the humor that Turbonegro injects into their songs (Hot Water Music just is not a humorous band at least not in the same sense of Turbonegro) but the song is rather rip roaring with a real sizzling bass part.
"Moments Pass" is one of my favorite songs by Hot Water Music, and, although I have it already on the Moments Pass single and the aforementioned Moonpies for Misfits EP, it is a welcome addition here. "Wild in the Streets" (another cover, this one originally done by Garland Jeffreys) is a fast, street punk sounding song straight down to the lyrics, but it definitely does not sound like Hot Water Music (more like some early 80's oi band) at all which can happen with covers. As weird as it sounds, I love their version of The Clash's "Clampdown," which sounds exactly as you think it would or should sound; it never ever gets old for me, maybe which is partially due to how much I like The Clash and Hot Water Music. "No Surrender" is an interesting proposition because when I explain to people that do not listen to punk rock or have never heard of Hot Water Music what they sound like I usually say that they sound like a punk rock Bruce Springsteen; listening to this cover, the boys in Hot Water Music really sound much more like The Clash rather than "The Boss," which is pretty damn shocking to be honest and a hell of a catchy version of the song at that. Till the Wheels Fall Off closes with an apt cover of the Leatherface song "Springtime"; hearing this for the first time here (yes, I know I am late on this) is quite enjoyable since this could easily pass as a Hot Water Music track.
There are some glaring omissions from this collection that border on completely annoying like the absent "Where We Belong" off of the single of the same name as well as the Moonpies for Misfits CDEP that I believe is out of print now (so go get it as it is a good song, one of my personal favorites actually and I am sure some record stores will still have it) and the equally in absentia "Dead End Streets" and "The Bitter End" from the band's split with Leatherface. At the same time, there are a couple of strange inclusions like "Wayfarer" which is an album track (off of Caution). There are some much more rare tracks that may or may not have been more suitable for this Till the Wheels Fall Off collection that I am a bit surprised did not make it here, but there are quite a few things which I am tickled that did make it. Hot Water Music definitely makes this a worthwhile record to own for longtime fans as well as neophytes.
