Firewater frontman Tod A (who used to be in the noise-punk band Cop Shoot Cop) recorded his latest album, The Golden Hour, with different groups of musicians in four countries over the past two years. Reeling from a divorce and the creeping gentrification of his New York City home base, Tod journeyed to the Middle East and Asia for pick-me-up inspiration. His sojourn yielded forays into the folk and pop sounds of Turkey, Israel, India, and Pakistan. If the Clash had been bitten by the global-music bug earlier in its career, it probably would've sounded something like The Golden Hour. <
