The Singles 1992-1997

Trumans Water were a welcome conundrum: happily awkward, comfortably uncomfortable, their songs seemed always close to violating their own limits, struggling to keep a lid on the explosive energy at the root of the group’s many great ideas. The seven-inch single was particularly good for Trumans Water, as the brevity inherent to the format sharpened their wits, and each single’s power is not diminished by being compiled on The Singles 1992-1997. Most everything here is sharply honed, feisty avant-rock, able to turn on a dime, much as, at first blush, it can all sound like a spring-loaded mess. Imagine Captain Beefheart being dragged through a mudslide in Jad Fair’s backyard, and you’ve got some idea of what’s happening here.