Rumbleseat

Item: Is Dead
Author: Chaz Murphy

Is Dead

(2005)

Reviewed by Chaz Murphy

Discogs Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label No Idea RecordsDecapolisNovember 2005

acoustic bluegrass country

I have been a huge Hot Water Music fan since 1998. They are one of the best bands around. They never cease to surprise me. Whenever I hear of a side project from HWM, I usually dive right into it. I loved Unitas and Black Top Cadence was awesome. Then Rumbleseat came around. They were unlike anything that I had heard from an underground band. They were country/bluegrass but also kept that touch of Hot Water Music than I love. The only problem that I could ever see with this band was that they only ever put out seven inches. It wasn't a problem with me because I collect vinyl but for those people who don't but still love HWM, I could see this as a problem. I collected all their vinyl and then I got word that they had released a Johnny Cash cover. I found it on a tribute to Johnny Cash which features a ton of major country artist. It wasn't labeled as Rumbleseat though. It said Chuck Ragan and Samantha Jones - Jackson. I thought that was pretty amazing.

Rumbleseat consists of Chuck Ragan (hot water music), Chris Wollard (hot water music, black top cadence) and Samantha Jones (bitchin'). Now the band is defunct which is a terrible thing. No Idea has decided to release their discography on CD and vinyl which is an amazing idea. It features all their songs that were on vinyl plus two songs from compilations (including Johnny Cash's Jackson) and also three unreleased songs. This is all acoustic and gritty. It's everything you love about HWM and everything you maybe didn't know you liked about country/bluegrass. One of the years best albums!