Mike Watt – Ball-Hog Or Tugboat (1995/2016) [HDTracks FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Ball-Hog or Tugboat? is the debut solo album by former Minutemen and fIREHOSE bassist, songwriter and vocalist Mike Watt. It was recorded in 1994, and came at a personal and professional career crossroads for Watt. fIREHOSE had broken up after eight years and six releases earlier in 1994, and his marriage to former Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler had ended in divorce (although both their friendship and their dual-bass project Dos continued; Kira also contributed some computer graphics to the album’s artwork).

For his first solo album, Mike Watt assembled a different band for each track, creating a veritable who’s who of post-punk and alternative rock — Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl, Thurston Moore, J Mascis, Frank Black, Evan Dando, Dave Pirner, Henry Rollins, Flea, Lee Ranaldo, Mike D, and Pat Smear all appear, among others. Predictably, the sound is somewhat schizophrenic, but no more so than the average Minutemen album. Ball-Hog or Tugboat? is more polished than anything the Minutemen released, yet looser than fIREHOSE, filled with jazz-inflected breaks and sheer sonic freakouts, but dominated by a surprisingly large number of pop songs. On the power pop rush of “Piss-Bottle Man,” Dando sings with more emotion than on most Lemonheads records, and “Chinese Fire Drill” shows an effective folky side to Watt’s music. And Watt’s own vocals on “Big Train” are as big-hearted, sly, and funny as the album itself. -AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

Round One
1 Big Train 3:19
2 Against The 70’s 3:27
3 Drove Up From Pedro 4:30
4 Piss-Bottle Man 3:15

Round Two
5 Chinese Firedrill 4:24
6 Intense Song For Madonna To Sing 3:03
7 Tuff Gnarl 3:10
8 Sexual Military Dynamics 2:39
9 Max And Wells 3:08

Round Three
10 E-Ticket Ride 4:26
11 Forever – One Reporter’s Opinion 3:40
12 Song For Igor 2:43
13 Tell ‘Em, Boy! 3:28
14 Sidemouse Advice 3:30

Round Four
15 Heartbeat 5:30
16 Maggot Brain 12:04
17 Coincidence Is Either Hit Or Miss 2:19

Personnel:
Mike Watt – Bass, Lead Vocals, Background Vocals, Spoken Word
Dave Grohl, J Mascis – Drums, Guitar
Nels Cline – Guitar, Slide Guitar, Lead Guitar, Nylon Guitar
Eddie Vedder – Guitar, Lead Vocals, Background Vocals
Cris Kirkwood – Banjo
Curt Kirkwood, Gary Lee Conner – Lead Guitar
Krist Novoselic – Farfisa Organ
Carla Bozulich – Vocals, Background Vocals
Michael Preussner, Bob Lee, Steve Shelley, Wayne Griffin, Brock Avery, John Molo, Richie West – Drums
Joe Baiza, Zander Schloss, John Strohm, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Todd Rigione, Butler – Guitar
Paul Roessler – Piano
Danny Frankel – Percussion
Spot – Mandolin, Viola
Evan Dando, Frank Black, Henry Rollins, Mark Lanegan, Pat Smear, Dave Pirner, Tiffany Anders, Michael Diamond – Vocals
Anna Waronker, Rachel Haden, Coco Hayley Gordon Moore, Mario Caldato Jr. – Background Vocals
Petra Haden – Background Vocals, Violin
Keith McCaw – Acoustic Guitar
Stephen Perkins – Percussion, Drums
Epic Soundtracks – Tambourine
Tony Atherton – Alto Saxophone
Flea – Lead Bass, Pocket Trumpet
Vince Meghrouni – Percussion, Background Vocals, Vocals, Drums, Tenor Saxophone
Kathleen Hanna – Spoken Word
Bernie Worrell – B3 Organ
Adam Horovitz – Drums, Guitar, Background Vocals
Ronda Rindone – Bass Clarinet
Tony Maxwell – Cello