by Omar Perez
When bands sing about the corporate enemy known as the major record label industry, they tend to release frustrations they never felt in the first place, only having heard stories from others. Not Sweet Water-they've been there.
"Emotional exhaustion and turmoil is an occupational hazard of rock and roll," says Rich Credo, guitarist of the Seattle quartet whose latest effort, Suicide, marks the third release of a band that has never relented from an uphill battle.
But "it's not like I sold my guitar or anything."
With a 1992 self-titled debut released by Atlantic Records, Sweet Water (Credo, vocalist Adam Czeisler, bassist Paul Uhlir and drummer Cole Peterson) had begun to earn a small but dedicated following in the Northwest. Subsequent material that would become their sophomore 1995 album, Superfriends, strayed from the alterna-style they were forced to adapt after the label told them to change their sound to the likes of Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam. They refused. So when the A&R woman who landed them the deal at Atlantic moved to EastWest/Elektra Records, she brought them along, although she was later let go and the artists under her belt (including Tad and Clutch) were subsequently dropped. But not Sweet Water, who would release Superfriends, a more aggressive and less polished album whose self-titled track was beginning to make a splash on radio, making to the top-20 rock charts at one time. Then without warning the band was dropped.
But that's all in the past now. Nothing to see here.
"It's pretty hard to get pissed off when you look at the big picture," Credo says. "We just get on the stage and do what we do together."
And in the studio as well. Produced by Dave Jerden (Janes Addiction, Alice in Chains and Offspring), Suicide opens with a wall of guitars and drums on "Been So Long" that dwell in punk influence as they do in melodic rock, while the uptempo "FTA" and "Dear Customer" contrast the wavelike "Garden Party," which echoes in a sea of reverb-tinged sounds. And on the other end of the yard lies "East/West is the Enemy," which needs no explanation.
In retrospect," Atlantic Records gave us a fair shot," Credo explains. "That's more than I can say for the weasels at EastWest/Elektra. They actually supported our first record and didn't lie to us all the time."
Later plans with Enclave Records, a subsidiary of EMI America, fizzled after that label, which had signed Sweet Water to a two-record deal, went under. The band's recent resurfacing comes courtesy of Good-Ink Records, a Seattle-based indie label founded by Carrie Akre, former vocalist of Emerald City rock band Goodness.
While such strain might have broken up a lot of other bands, Sweet Water considers itself more of a family than anything else.
"We have rocked and toured for so long it's like second nature,"
Credo says. "Plus we know what each other looks like naked."
So what have all the years of ups and downs taught the band?
"Don't suck ass," Credo says. "Be true to yourself."
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www.goodinkrecords.com
