Spot is of course the quasi-legendary knobsmith behind most of the Black Flag, Minutemen, and Meat Puppets records of the early 80s Apparently he's now living in Austin fixing up old Studebakers and learning to play a shitload of instruments. Unhalfbaking, according to the liner notes, came about when Spot borrowed a 4-track from Tim Kerr and (presumably got a big bag of ditchweed and) set about laying down tracks all by himself. The guy plays banjo, guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and all sorts of shit on this record, and the result is perhaps less than mind-blowing, but a welcome addition to the library of any acoustic music aficionado. Several of the songs herein are of the wobbly sea shanty or Irish jig variety (complete with foot-stompin' in the backdrop), which have probably the least appeal of all the tracks, as the novelty of such things is typically very fleeting. The most satisfactory tunes are the sparsely arranged, minimalist pieces with just a guitar and maybe an occasional mandolin sprinkled on top for good measure. There's not a great deal of singing on Unhalfbaking, but when he does sing, Spot thankfully eschews the typical recycled Americana school of lyric-writing. In fact, on "It's The Water," what sounds like it may devolve into a paean to beer is actually a hilarious examination of class and race conflict. Again, not the ass-waxingest thing I've ever heard, but this album is the work of somebody who obviously has a deep love of music. It's a good album to put on while you're working on your car or something. It doesn't really command your attention, but if you do elect to examine it closer, it doesn't disappoint.