East coast natives Smoke or Fire have returned with their sophomore album This Sinking Ship. After touring all 50 states on the 2005 Fat Tour with Against Me! and other fellow Fat Wreck Chords label mates, the band took a well deserved break, lost and found a new drummer, and then proceeded to the studio to record this solid CD.

From the second the first track played on This Sinking Ship I could remember how impressed I was with these guys when I saw them live. They have a sound comparable to the likes of Against Me! and Anti-Flag but set out in their own direction. That seems to be the trend for Fat Wreck Chords though, they typically sign on bands that have the same feel to them but not identical. With that said, I see no problem with how Fat Wreck Chords chooses who they sign because just about every band's CD that has their famous logo on the back, I love. I myself have been listening to various Fat Wreck Chords' bands since I was in high school over a decade ago. I like seeing the development continue.

Smoke Or Fire rubbed off to me as an intelligent band. When seeing them live I overheard the lead singer talking to a kid at the merchandise table about reading a book. I can't say what exact book he was trying to get the kid to read, but it caught me off guard as I am used to most bands going the other direction when in the territory of young fans. They usually talk about getting hammered, talking to girls, or whatnot. I know not every band has that charm to them, but I have seen a few shows in my time and that was usually the outcome when young kids were trying to talk to their idols.

The CD starts out with a song called "What Separates Us All". The song pretty much describes the way America seems to be headed if you are not a right winged liberal, and I enjoyed every second of it. "Irish Handcuffs" was by far my favorite song on this album. It's a simple song mostly about drinking and growing up that many folk, I feel, could relate to.

Sometimes when a band releases a second album, the outcome is not well. Smoke Or Fire has done an excellent job creating a follow-up album. Every song I heard was excellent. The singing was a tad catchy sometimes but also told a pretty serious view on life. Once you start reading the lyrics you realize just how deep some of the messages they express are. The CD may be just over thirty minutes, but they really put everything they had into that half hour and cranked out one hell of a CD that just very well may make a better name for them.