Knife In The Water (yes, a Polanski movie as well) came into being in summer of 1997 when five musicians from Austin/Texas formed an ad hoc band to play a festival that hosted The Dirty Three, Calexico, and Edith Frost. The crowd responded and before the end of their set Knife In The Water knew they´d have to play again.
Being native Texas their sound is steeped in residual influence. It is the organic result of the five band members´ cross-fertilising backgrounds, in church, gospel and classical, rockabilly, honky-tonk and country-blues, The Butthole Surfers and Joy Division. Singer-songwriter Aaron Blount came by the traditions which anchor them honestly. “Growing up in Texas, you can´t avoid country, folk, traditional music, it´s really everywhere. I remember checking out the Harry Smith Folk Anthology from the library, I didn´t want to take it back. Those songs generated a feeling that a lot of modern music didn´t, an understanding of the cycle of life and death. Not living by a clock, but by the sun rising.”
Mid `98 saw the release of their self-released debut-album “Plays One Sound And Others” which David Fricke (Rolling Stone) described as follows: “There´s a little bit of country, a touch of psych, and lots of room to daydream in the wide-open music of `Plays One Sound And Others´, by the Taxes quintet Knife In The Water. Like Spiritualized with a Gram Parsons jones, Knife In The Water play everything with a low-gravity grace and a dash of prairie dust.”
The grace and the dust are still in place, but the band has worked hard and matured over the following year. They toured the USA which culminated with a gig at 99s CMJ the day a tornado hit New York. They scored a deal with an US-label, played their hometown frequently and went into a bigger and better studio to record their follow up “Red River”. They are currently touring the USA with Calexico.
Whereas “Plays One Sound”.......
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