ASHTABULA - Possible Smokestacks

Much ado - okay, a moderate, respectable amount of ado - was made about Ashtabulas debut LP River of Many Dead Fish. A mere side project for Bob Malloy, according to the conventional wisdom, it allowed the remaining members of the Strapping Fieldhands to restock their dwindling supply of owl tonic and to gas up the skiffle barge in the port of limbo. There may well be a kernel of truth in that posit, but now we have a second Ashtabula release, and there hasnt been a collection of new Fieldhands recordings since-جø¬-? well, the last one. They say owl tonic isnt so easy to get nowadays, and a barge aint exactly a canoe, either.Correct us if were wrong, but we believe it was the legendary 60s imagemaker Jake Witsen who said, Give me intestinal fortitude over verisimilitude any day, cause I want a band with blood and guts, not a group of bleepin nuts." Good on yer, Jake ol boy, you said a mouthful there. But the Witsenian guts on Possible Smokestacks might better be spelled p-l-u-c-k. Lots