FIREHOSE: Ragin' Full On LP

When D. Boon died in December 1985, most people assumed the Minutemen died with him. Mike Watt had other ideas.

fIREHOSE formed from the wreckage within months, Watt and George Hurley recruiting Ohio guitarist Ed Crawford after he literally drove to California to audition uninvited. That act of sheer unhinged commitment is baked into Ragin' Full On, the 1986 debut that arrived with the urgency of a band that understood exactly how fragile everything was. It's post-punk that sprawls and sprints, Watt's bass locked in tight with Hurley's drumming while Crawford brings a rawer, more guitar-forward energy than anything the Minutemen had done. It sits in that particular alternative rock lineage that runs from SST Records through to every band who tried to figure out what came after punk without selling out. This is a 1986 original pressing, which makes it a genuine piece of underground American music history.

Format: Vinyl LP. Original release: 1986. This pressing: 1986. Country of origin: USA. Genre: Alternative Rock, Post-Punk.

Fans of: Minutemen, Husker Du, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, SST Records roster