Nickel Creek Why Should The Fire Die?

Why should the fire die? Not only is it the name of the album by these young SoCal bluegrass folksters but it’s also a proclamation. Why should the fire die when we’ve only just begun to burn?

It’s questions like this Chris Thile, Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins ponder throughout the album with a thoughtfulness, honesty and maturity that is a thrill to witness.

Poetic lyrics wrap themselves around every song. Thile, the primary vocalist and first rate mandolinist who has been releasing records since his early teens, offers an awkward take on relationships on “Can’t Complain”, calling to mind indie-rock darling Bright Eyes, although with a far, far superior vocal delivery. Fantastic fiddler Sara Watkins incorporates female beauty into the excellent cover of Bob Dylan’s “Tomorrow is a Long Time” as her brother belts out his tongue in cheek farewell to a former love on “Somebody More Like You.” In Nickel Creek, no one outshines another member and every member is essential to their chemistry.

Songs like instrumentals “Scotch & Chocolate” and “Stumptown” evoke an old school, down south bluegrass vibe while on the band’s look at infidelity on “Best of Luck”, Theile stomps in time to the beat and then gives this album its dramatic climax on “ Helena.” As the only song with a full drum sound, its power is given that much more weight. Starting slow, only to build and build until it jumps over the edge into a big rock ball buster, this track is in a nutshell what the whole album is: one surprise after another.

My brother Daniel has been clamoring for something fresh and original, something that doesn’t ape what’s already out there, something that’s really, truly new. Too bad he doesn’t really dig the folk rock scene as Nickel Creek’s newest is one of the most original, inspiring collections of music I have heard in a long, long time. Both vintage and contemporary, traditional and rebellious, this is a fire that’s not going to burn out anytime soon.