KWCW

What is it that makes Nickel Creek so adorable? Is it their beautiful harmonies and chord progressions, or the vigor of youth? Certainly the prospect of a group not much older than the median age of a college campus lends itself to some interest. A family of child prodigies Chris Thile, Sean Watkins, and Sara Watkins have been performing together since they were 13. Winning numerous musical awards, their technical mastery of the instruments is apparent through their sound. All that governs them is the tenacity of youth and their own creative exploration.

The first thing you’ll notice on Why Should The Fire Die? is that the trio has moved drastically far from their first two albums. Indeed, the lack of Alison Krauss to guide them this time out is more than likely a major contributing factor. The efforts of this third album can be said to be an experimental voyage across genres, the seeds of which were sown in their second album with their bluegrass cover of Spit on a Stranger by Pavement.

Why Should The Fire Die? starts off with one of their stand out tracks of the album, When In Rome. Catchy and energetic, this track runs along the vein of their older work. Somebody More Like You is easily my favorite, with beautiful melodies that make your heart jump just a little. The middle of the album is punctuated with a Bob Dylan cover of Tomorrow Is a Long Time, obviously reaching out to their fan base with an ode to a legend. Missing from the track list are the long flowing instrumentals that used to comprise equal parts of their work. Stumptown is painfully short at just a minute and forty-four seconds and leaves you wanting more. The title track closes the album, an artistic closure that is on par with the song itself that just seems to cut out at the end. I’m not sure if this was by design or due to poor production. One of the most shocking tracks on the album, is Best of Luck which has a defined rock and roll sound. Perhaps they were trying to be edgy and innovative, but it really just leaves the listener to ponder “what the fuck?”

All said, Why Should The Fire Die? is a bold new direction for Nickel Creek which might leave devout fans of their first two albums scratching their heads or cursing under their breath. But the important thing to remember is that Sara Watkins is just a cutie straight up, especially when she’s playing the fiddle. A wry smile will take you places in this world.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 12th, 2005 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Indie, Folk/Americana. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.