'Firehouse' by Nina Durango: F*** The Hustle, Write Good Songs

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Ryan Bahm of Addalemon

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PRE-SAVE 'FIREHOUSE'

A Bar Manager, Electro-Mechanical Engineer, and Union Electrician walk into a bar. That’s it. There’s no punchline. Together, they comprise Nina Durango, the answer to what the Replacements, Death Cab For Cutie, and Fountains of Wayne would sound like smashed together. The San Francisco power pop trio’s sophomore album Firehouse drops this Friday, June 28th, with a debut at Bottom of the Hill the same night.

Led by songwriter Stephan Kaplan, Nina Durango cranks out infectious pop-rock tunes that will have you immediately reaching for the replay button once the average two-and-a-half-minute track duration is up. Despite hailing from a city known for iconic bridges, the band completely ignores including one, but nothing feels missing. Each song whizzes by, and with 12 tracks in under 30 minutes, Firehouse could make even the punks blush. 

“20 Years” opens the album in Kaplan’s Sausalito apartment, looking north to Mount Tamalpais. The sunny, touristed hamlet just across the Golden Gate from San Francisco is 10 miles and a world away from the Tenderloin, the poverty and addiction-addled neighborhood of right-wingers’ nightmares where the band practices and the “dope boys on the corner lean too far but don’t fall over.” This juxtaposition of light and dark is a primer of what’s to come as Firehouse flows from shimmering chords and sweet melodies to dirgy riffs and seedy characters, covering the gamut of popular 90s alternative rock music. 

Bassist Matt Hash, the newest addition to the band, makes his presence known on “The Graduating Class of 2005.” Not content with riding the roots, he and drummer Eddie Scarsella drive the song to its culminating outro refrain. Music is at its best when songwriters apply such a degree of hyper-specificity that it becomes possible for listeners to place themselves into the song, putting their own experiences onto the foundation. “When we won 2005,” and who exactly won, we can’t be sure, but Kaplan’s lyrics and approachable voice invite you in and include you in the “we.”

“If You See Megan” is as close to a perfect pop song as possible. It’s Nina Durango’s “Hey Jealousy.” It could soundtrack any summer and be a radio rock hit in a fair and just world (or if it were still 1992). The song presents a fleeting “I wonder what happened to that girl I liked in high school” thought, and before you can linger too long in the past, it's over. Kaplan traffics in nostalgia, tiptoeing just up to Menzingerian levels. Lest you think he swapped his specs for rose-colored ones, rest assured that he is not glorifying the good old days—rather illuminating the overlooked moments that turn out to be character-building.

When you think Firehouse is all sugary sweets and good times, “Claudia! I Love You” enters with its brooding Cobainesque chorus guitar effect and drum machine. Kaplan tips his hat, namechecking his influences: "I Wanna play guitar for Taylor / Cut lines for Elliott Smith / Cook dope for Lou and Johnny / Knit hats for the drummer of Wine Lips.”

“Cannery Row” and “Ahab Never Thinks; He Only Feels” follow the grand tradition of punk poets pulling from literary classics. These tracks are not merely SparkNotes summaries. Kaplan presents these songs not to show how well-read he is but to inhabit and build off the worlds established in the hallowed pages, highlighting their timeless themes of defiance, death, human connection, and the duplicity of life. His words sit overtop grooves as sordid as the living conditions depicted in the respective novels used as source material.

Firehouse is a clear level-up from their debut, I Hate Myself and I Want to Dance, regarding production, arrangement, and instrumentation. The band swings for the fences on “St. George,” expanding their palette by including a somber piano piece written and performed by Ken Cook, a jazz musician who regularly performs at the bar Kaplan manages, which explodes into a powerful shouted declaration of “wherever you lay, I will go.” The album’s production shines on “St. Thomas,” with its persistent acoustic track neatly tucked in the mix that lingers into the next song, “Divorce Saga,” with its “Ooh La La” plucked intro.

Eschewing any conventional wisdom, something Nina Durango seems to enjoy, the lead single “Eddie’s Hot Tip in Times Square” is buried in the tracklist. With its bombastic “Hot For Teacher” like drum fill intro, it seems obvious why they would name the song after their beloved drummer, Eddie (not Van Halen). The song’s companion music video is a testament to what a band can accomplish with a tiny budget, resourceful friends, and creative fun.  

The penultimate song, “$3 Unless You’re Crossing the Bridge,” might win out for the prettiest song on the album. Guest musician Yukon Zhou floats in with his trumpet, adding a little sweetener on top without becoming the focal point. For any other band, this would likely close out an album with its heartfelt refrain: 'cause if you ever find a way/To get back to the states/Won't you remember me/'cause I'm not the bravest kind/Chased liquor with the wine/Almost by design.” 

Defying any listener's desire to have things wrapped up with a nice bow, Nina Durango closed the album with the instrumental, “It Started As the Year Of Water,” a tradition they started on their debut. The sequencing intention is simultaneously frustrating but perfect, like the ending of Twin Peaks or Lost. The band seems to follow the mantra: “Leave ‘em wanting more.” Rather than a triumphant lyric-based track, of which there are many to choose from, to close Firehouse, listeners don’t get a perfect ending. The instrumental doesn’t neatly resolve, ending on a couple of clanking muted guitar hits instead of the root chord. It’s only upon listening to Firehouse on repeat that this choice becomes perfect as it seamlessly transitions back into the opening track. Or, if you are listening on vinyl, racing to the turntable to flip it back over.  

In a time of guitar-driven power pop resurgence, Nina Durango should be uttered in the same breath as Liquid Mike, Dazy, Taking Meds, and their ilk. The fact that Stephan, Matt, and Eddie are all invested in their primary careers and seemingly unconcerned with the hustle of being in a band in 2024 while managing to write better songs than 99.5% of active artists further adds to their mystique. You might call them slacker rock, but they don’t slack. They opt for quality over quantity, choosing to play less often to larger audiences and focus on creating cohesive collections of songs. Their “f*** the hustle, write good songs, play good shows” mentality should serve as a playbook for sustainable growth as a band when such a notion seems impossible. 

Firehouse, the album and recorded evidence of this practice exists not as a collection of disparate high-quality tracks but as a well-thought-out, purposefully sequenced work of art from a band who, even if they never enter the limelight (if that even exists) or go viral on social media, will undoubtedly leave a mark on their scene and those fortunate enough to be a part of the ride.

Firehouse is available on Friday, June 28th, on all streaming platforms and vinyl. 

Trixie's Note: Get tickets to the album release show HERE!