Knife in the Water

Before the sweet Americana beauty of the short-lived Whiskeytown, there was the long pedigree of Austin's Knife in the Water. Of late, the band has attempted a slight shift away from the "cry in your beer" standards to a more alterna-pop meets alt-country mix, which finds them sounding like a countrified the Jesus and Mary Chain on the opening track "From the Catbird Seat" and the resigned glory of "Crosshair Chapel." Required listening if you consider yourself a fans of the new breed of country music currently taking Britain and Canada by the short and curlies and must know where the genre has come from and where it's going.