Just A Fire, Spanish Time

“Produced by J. Robbins.” At this point in the indie-rock game, you can almost guess what a band’s going to sound like just from that one sentence fragment. That’s not a dig at either Robbins or the bands he’s produced — he’s produced and played on some of my favorite records of all time. With that said, though, I think that any time a Fugazi-ish, DC-sounding band decides to make an album, they just feel it natural to seek out J. Robbins to work his magic for them. It’s almost a foregone conclusion.

On Spanish Time, Just A Fire is pretty much that — a three-piece outfit from Chicago that explores the sonic territory of Jawbox, Fugazi, Hoover, et al. The band even includes Hoover’s Fred Erskine on bass (along with Chris Daly from Sweep The Leg Johnny on guitar and Scott Adamson from Son of Adam on drums). As you’d expect, Spanish Time delivers some good rocking moments, and songs like “My Baby Is Your Baby Too” and “Runaway” feature some nice manic guitars and rough-throated vocals. Overall, the whole affair is very listenable; I just didn’t find anything on the album to get me really excited. I’d definitely check out Just A Fire, however, if they came through Houston anytime soon. Maybe that could sway me.