Let it bleed

"If you like your roots rock as gnarly as it gets, you won't miss with Fireworks' new album, Lit Up." You would expect this quote is culled from an underground fanzine, not from the music biz authority that is Billboard. Yet the two-column mini-feature in the magazine's "Declaration of Independents" section goes on to describe Fireworks' third album as a "rough-hewn but exciting example of roots punk at its most abrasive."

Darin Lin Wood--the band's founder, singer, and guitarist--is used to this kind of praise. And, quite frankly, he doesn't give a damn. For a decade now, he has been involved with bands that didn't quite make it big-time, no matter how much ink they received and regardless of the fact that the combos he played with preceded trends and earned indie notoriety and a small cult following. "I picked the most wretched business to be in," Wood grumbles, barely hiding his disgust.

Wood started in New York, first with the Black Snakes and then with Dig Dat Hole. The latter changed its name to Cop Shoot Cop and signed with a major after Wood left to move to Denton in 1989. There he joined the Red Devils, not to be confused with California's blues-rocking Red Devils, a fact that gave the local band legal grief. Wood wanted to move on to more adventurous projects, so he formed Fireworks as a duo with Chris Merlick of Lithium X-mas. Later James Arthur joined on guitar, and Wood's girlfriend, Janet Walker, picked up the drumsticks. When Merlick left, Fireworks solidified as a trio.

In 1994, the full-length CD Set The World On Fire was released on Crypt Records, followed by another album, Off The Air, on Australia's Au-go-go Records in 1996. In the interim, the band released a slew of 45s on what seems to be every national or international indie label, and Wood's restless spirit had him playing guitar for Memphis' 68 Comeback and New York's Blacktop.

By design, Fireworks remained well-hidden in the Dallas underground. "We never wanted to play the weekly gig to make a living," Wood says. "I didn't wanna turn into a band that plays at a place all the time, and people sit at the bar drinking. We want to do it like an assault thing, keep the impact of it."

Sitting in the rehearsal room of Last Beat Records studios, Wood and second guitar player Keith Underwood--who has replaced Arthur--have the faces of hardened rock musicians who have faced all the hardships and disappointments that the business hands out so freely. But behind these jaded expressions lies an uncompromising love for the raw sound of rock 'n' roll, the allure of picking up a guitar and hitting the strings until your fingers bleed and your demons are exorcised.

For Wood, the demons have not been easily displaced. Playing rock 'n' roll has given him barely 15 minutes of fame, along with an 11-year drug addiction from which he's just now recovered. With the help of Last Beat, Wood kicked his habit, and he's ready to kickstart Fireworks after a two-year hiatus that was caused mainly by his addiction's taking full control. Sober now, he recalls the black hole in his life caused by drugs:

"I was a wretched, crumbling character, and my options were institutions, jail, or death. I came to Last Beat with a cry for help. I said, 'I'm crumbling, help me out.' They totally helped me out. Tami, Ron, and Shaun are responsible for saving me. Other companies would screw me over, throwing little crumbs of money here and there, and perpetuate it.

"I wanna demystify the whole thing," he continues. "Most musicians think like they have this fucking license to be taken care of. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. I've been a dishwasher and a lawn mower. I'm humble enough to know how real life works. Junk is a double-edged sword. What I loved about it was that I was kept in a dream world, outside the stream of reality. But as you float down, it makes it impossible to function. It was difficult for me to do simple things like fill out a job application. It was never a mystery what it was gonna do to me. I knew I was heading for disaster. I could be dead now, or in prison, but something happened, and I was spared that.

"Of course," he adds, "I wouldn't be who I am today if I hadn't gone through the whole thing. It gives you some insight."