The band Firewater will be returning with a new album after a decade-long hiatus. Titled Bad Jazz, the album is influenced by founder Tod A’s time based in Istanbul, and many of the grooves betray a Turkish flavor. However, the album is also a return to his NYC Punk roots.
Bad Jazz is being released by Chicago-based independent label Pravda Records on December 11, 2026, on 12” LP vinyl, CD, digital download and streaming services.
Tod explains about the hiatus and current goals:
When my daughter was born, I wanted to be around for her, and not constantly on the road. After so long away, we knew this record needed to be as strong as it could be. I had never stopped writing, so I had a big bag to draw from. We recorded the songs we felt were the most direct.
The new album was recorded at Space Mountain, a remote studio in the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains in Spain built by Martin “Youth” Glover, a founding member of Killing Joke and a Producer. For the sessions, Tod was joined by some long-time compatriots, such as Oren Kaplan (Gogol Bordello) on electric guitar. Stalwart Firewater drummer Yoni Halevy handled drum kit, percussion, and backing vocals. Tod rediscovered the bass, an instrument he hadn’t wielded since the early days of Firewater, as well as acoustic guitar, banjo and organ.
Formed in 1995 by Tod A, Firewater emerged from New York City’s underground Rock scene with an ambitious to take the energy of Punk Rock and “crossbreed it with a variety of different music from around the world.” Tod A had been the bassist, vocalist and primary songwriter of the Noise-Rock band Cop Shoot Cop, but Firewater allowed him the creative freedom to explore klezmer, gypsy music, Ska, Jazz, Cabaret, Folk and a host of other traditions. The end results were what some would later call “world punk.”
Drawing on travels and experiences of world music across several albums, Firewater made “musical cross-collaboration and cultural osmosis its modus operandi.” With a rotating cast of collaborators Tod A built Firewater into a musical experiment that crossed borders, and now they are back.
