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Saw Wheel

The Next Train (2005)
Hill Billy Stew Records

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Contributed by: CrookedSuperhero
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on November 13th 2005

Remember when Strung Out tried to play Southern acoustic music, but ultimately failed? Well, undeterred by this, Saw Wheel have gone right ahead and attempted the feat themselves.

Although Rumbleseat may have the 'punk' market covered for this type of music, Saw Wheel are good contenders to their throne. Lyrics to "The Obvious Hit" and "Southern Rock Anthem" echo singer Richard Crenweldge's old band One Reason, while tracks like "Train Wreck Story" just seem to burrow into your head even more with each passing listen. Richard's voice is reminiscent of a lighter Chuck Ragan, which could never be a bad thing.

Sadly, the album doesn’t keep its pace very well, and sequencing becomes a big issue towards the end. "Black Sparrow" and "Country Lines" do seem to drag on too long, and make it hard to listen to the album continually through. Some tracks also sound a little too much like Rumbleseat, most noticeably "Ghost Town Story," which if you are not listening carefully, could very easily of been a track on their recent discography.

Still, the album is pretty solid, and topped of with a cover of Avail's "Lombardy St.;" makes for a great listen. Whole-heartedly recommended to fans of Rumbleseat and Tim Barry's solo stuff.

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theundergroundscene (November 14, 2005)

crooky you are seriously in no place to poke fun when you write like that

Anonymous (November 14, 2005)

And the reality is that RJ's vocals sound very similar to Rumbleseat's vocals....it's the most obvious comparison to be made, and i would say the correct one.

Crookedsuperhero (November 14, 2005)

These days, in the "punk market", Rumbleseat are probably the most well known band of this type. I thought people on this site would get the comparison more.

Anonymous (November 14, 2005)

I love it when a guy only knows one or two bands of a genre and trys to say that everyone else in that genre is trying to be them or that that style of music is covered by the two he knows. I'm not saying this record is gold but Rumbleseat wasn't the first and won't be the last band to do music like this. Also I the vandals country record predates whatever shit strung out did.

rkl (November 14, 2005)

i think CoC is better at southern rock than AWS or SO. (yeah, i know, its been about 20 years since they put out an album that could be considered punk. blow me)

sickboi (November 14, 2005)

Lee-

Who came up with the label "logo"? That shit is awesome.

Anonymous (November 14, 2005)

so it looks like i exceeded the amount of bandwidth allowed at photobucket, so the hill billy stew site is rather bland right now as a result....sorry, all the content is there still, just not the thumbnails....if you really want to order the cd online, go to www.hazzardrecords.net that is where saw wheel's home page is hosted to www.hazzardrecords.net/sawwheel.htm other places like no idea / interpunk / suburban home have in stock too. thanks.

-lee @ hill billy stew

Anonymous (November 13, 2005)

singer equal RJ Cresswell of One Reason. Not Richard.

McGarnicle (November 13, 2005)

Rumbleseat is good...so is David Bowie. Saw Wheel made me think of Warszawa for some reason.

stevejonestherealbones (November 13, 2005)

people must have missed that aws review then....thats the only explanation for this, but even so...

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

Crookedsuperhero (November 13, 2005)

You must have missed the southern album.

Anonymous (November 13, 2005)

"Remember when Strung Out tried to play Southern acoustic music, but ultimately failed? " No, but I remember when Strung Out made a career of speeding up cheesy 80's metal riffs and fooling everyone into thinking it was groundbreaking.

Crookedsuperhero (November 13, 2005)

Because it was poorly written. But still, his aren't exactly better. And it is punknews......

stevejonestherealbones (November 13, 2005)

thats a fuckin hilarious opening. i dont know why fucko down there had a problem with it

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

Anonymous (November 13, 2005)

"Violins and cellos are not more punk; they're more acceptable"

*whoop* *whoop* punk police, pull over, please sir, why the hell can't people try something new?

gladimnotemo (November 13, 2005)

I have never seen the big attraction to Avail, or most "melodic hardcore punk rock and roll" whatever bands. This is no exception. Plan-It-X has such a sketchy output. Violins and cellos are not more punk; they're more acceptable.

Anonymous (November 13, 2005)

Christy C Roads front cover artwork as well....bonus!

Anonymous (November 13, 2005)

i've been meaning to pick this up for awhile ever since the webmaster of the now defunct drunken third website recommended it. anything that is similar to rumbleseat will more than likely appeal to me.

it's a damn shame that drunken third went down. that was an amazing website.

~vitustinnitus

Dante3000 (November 13, 2005)

I like the opening line.
But really I think it's clear that AWS, is much better at southern rock that Saw Wheel. They also invented the wheel, so that's another rip off.
-Dante

crossfiyaaa (November 13, 2005)

Will... you're kind of an asshole.

Anonymous (November 13, 2005)

Ugh... No more 10th grade English assignments posing as reviews, please.

-Will

Anonymous (November 13, 2005)

Remember when Strung Out tried to play Southern acoustic music, but ultimately failed?

remember when you tried writing a deep, moving, some what informative review, and ultimately failed? yah go fuck yourself.

TheOneTrueBill (November 13, 2005)

Holy crap, check out the last few comments on the Rumbleseat review. Fuckin' GOLD!