I’m reminded of Ike Reilly, Donovan, Richard Buckner, and Jandek—a whole gamut of wonderfully odd but rudimentary folk-pop artists who bring out the best with simplicity. Water Wars is really that simple, running itself roughshod over sing-alongs that you don’t need to know the words to; air guitar strums you don’t yet have memorized. Thill is not a first timer; having amassed a lengthy catalog of wonderful releases and retrospectives but that he’s still brimming with three minute hooks is why I keep coming back. Even after I promised to give up name-checking, Thill makes me fail and I dare not care. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some more jaunty punches at the air around my belly to make as I tear down the house to “Wild Iris.”
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