Smoke or Fire

Smoke or Fire: Prehistoric Knife Fight [7 inch]Prehistoric Knife Fight [7 inch] (2010)
Fat Wreck Chords

Reviewer Rating: 4

User Rating:

Contributed by: JeloneJelone
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on March 23rd 2010Three years after dropping the excellent This Sinking Ship, Smoke or Fire is finally serving up new tunes for the masses. Last week alone saw two new releases: Wasted Potential, an acoustic split between frontman Joe McMahon and the Lawrence Arms' Brendan Kelly, and Prehistoric Knife Fight, a two-so.

Three years after dropping the excellent This Sinking Ship, Smoke or Fire is finally serving up new tunes for the masses. Last week alone saw two new releases: Wasted Potential, an acoustic split between frontman Joe McMahon and the Lawrence Arms' Brendan Kelly, and Prehistoric Knife Fight, a two-song seven-inch and hopefully a preview of what to expect when the band's third full-length finally drops.

There is one thing wrong with Knife Fight: It's not nearly long enough to satiate any fan's appetite. That's probably the point, though; while the band has toured pretty consistently since This Sinking Ship dropped, three years is a long-ass time in punk rock to wait for a followup. Knife Fight should remind plenty of listeners that SoF dishes out high-quality punk rock that meets somewhere between Lawrence Arms' drunk-punk anthems and Avail's Southern political awareness.

It almost doesn't matter which side of the record one chooses to put on first. Both tunes are good. The opener, "Speak Easy" explodes right away with twin guitars and pounding drums. The production is slightly less glossy than on Ship--not that the band's sophomore album was overproduced or anything--while still maintaining a clarity lacking from full-length debut Above the City.

"Modesty" could be called the more introspective of the two songs, but only because it slowly builds into a rocker. Lyrically, it's in keeping with a lot of Smoke or Fire's songs about getting stuck in a rut--"So the days turn into years / Quick fix has become a career" goes one memorable bit. Speaking of quick fixes, Prehistoric Knife Fight is only four-and-a-half minutes long, but I'm gonna have to find a way to make it last until LP #3 comes out. Welcome back, guys.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

timhager (October 1, 2010)

I can't wait to see these guys at CMJ this year with Me First and the Gimme Gimme's, None More Black, Teenage Bottlerocket, Dead To Me, The Flatliners and Cobra Skulls. The Fat Wreck showcase is going to be sick!

Here's a list of the other bands playing: http://cmj2010.com/music/artists/

signaldistress (July 17, 2010)

this 7" was also recorded by Casey from Landmines

Mary86 (June 21, 2010)

I'm excited for this

OrganicThought (April 23, 2010)

Should be good I'm excited to get my 7"

damo (March 25, 2010)

don't get the avail comparison

good 7 inch this

mikexdude (March 25, 2010)

Thug person - Really? Then how come I keep seeing them?

Have you heard of a movie called A Beautiful Mind?

clc (March 24, 2010)

easily the "Blue Balls" record of the year. way too good to be way too short. if this is any inclination of whats to come with the new album, then i'm extremely excited. "Speak Easy" will easily become one of my favorite songs of theirs, it's intensely catchy and lyrically fulfilling. "Modesty" is tight, but i enjoyed hearing it live more than on this record. side A has been played about 40 times in one week and side B only about 1/4 that much. my only quams with the record is its too short, as mentioned above, and that the lyrics dont come with it. that's probably why i've listened to speak easy so much, its kinda hard to hear what he's saying at times but once you get it, it rules.

slymer (March 24, 2010)

Both of those show reviews are from 2008. It is now 2010. It's been a while.

Jelone (March 24, 2010)

Thug person - Really? Then how come I keep seeing them?

thug4lyfe (March 24, 2010)

"while the band has toured pretty consistently since This Sinking Ship dropped"

They haven't toured at all!!!

thepopeofchili-town (March 23, 2010)

"SoF dishes out high-quality punk rock that meets somewhere between Lawrence Arms’ drunk-punk anthems and Avail’s Southern political awareness."

If that were really the case, they would be one of my favorite bands. I don't get the hype, they're just so... average.

half_head (March 23, 2010)

pretty good, can't wait for the lp

Alien (March 23, 2010)

too short

quickattack (March 23, 2010)

I agree with telegraphrocks, its pretty good, but I just want a new full length already.

bish (March 23, 2010)

speak easy is fucking great

skankbook (March 23, 2010)

I love it, can't wait for the new album, but I'd feel ripped off from my $3 if both of these songs are on it. Yeah, I'm a cheap bastard.

Also, I didn't know Jeff Rosenstock did art work for Fat.

AnEpicProblem (March 23, 2010)

Even before I clicked on the link, I knew what score this would be getting.

Based on the song that streamed on here a few days ago, this deserves no more than a 6 (and that's assuming the other songs are actually good).

Blackjaw_ (March 23, 2010)

I love this band; their Worker's Union EP is flawless. These songs are good, but not great. The first one starts off horribly but gets better. I prefer the second one, it sounds kinda like something from the WU EP in some ways. But both feel rushed and lack punch. I wonder what the deal is with the "Misconceptions..." lyric in Modesty being nearly identical to the one in Melatonin.

I hope this is the last time I have to type out all those above sentences, I've repeated the same things a bunch of times now between all the other SoF articles and forum posts. :P

telegraphrocks (March 23, 2010)

Good, but needed another 10 songs.