View source for If'n

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = If'n
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Firehose (band)|Firehose]]
| cover      = Ifn_Firehose_Album_cover.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = November 4, 1987<ref name="discogs">{{cite web|title=fIREHOSE - If'n|url=https://www.discogs.com/fIREHOSE-Ifn/release/466710|publisher=[[Discogs]]|accessdate=May 7, 2019}}</ref>
| recorded   = September–October 1987; Radio Tokyo, [[Venice, California]]<ref name="discogs"/>
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Alternative rock]]
| length     =
| label      = [[SST Records|SST]] (115)
| producer   = [[Ethan James (producer)|Ethan James]], [[Mike Watt]]
| prev_title = [[Ragin', Full On]]
| prev_year  = 1986
| next_title = [[Fromohio]]
| next_year  = 1989
}}

'''''If'n''''' is the second album by the [[United States|American]] [[alternative rock]] band [[Firehose (band)|fIREHOSE]], released in 1987.

The album name is a reference to the [[Bob Dylan]] song "[[Don't Think Twice, It's All Right]]" from ''[[The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=MIKE WATT INTERVIEW|url=https://www.varmintcong.com/wattinterview.htm|publisher=varmintcong.com|accessdate=April 6, 2019|archive-date=December 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181207164009/http://www.varmintcong.com/wattinterview.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The left side of the album cover has a picture of [[Hüsker Dü]], friends of the band and labelmates at [[SST Records]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Adams|first=Ryan|author-link=Ryan Adams|title=Ryan Adams: Husker Du left a map for me|url=https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2017/11/06/husker-du-left-a-map-for-me|publisher=[[KCMP]]|date=November 6, 2017|accessdate=May 7, 2019}}</ref>

"For the Singer of R.E.M." was a tribute to the alternative rock band [[R.E.M.]], who had invited Firehose's predecessor [[Minutemen (band)|Minutemen]] to join them on the tour to support the 1985 album ''[[Fables of the Reconstruction]]''.<ref>Robert Dean Lurie (2019). Begin the Begin: R.E.M.'s Early Years. Verse Chorus Press</ref> When Minutemen singer [[D Boon]] died in a car crash shortly after the tour, R.E.M. organized a benefit concert for Boon's family and remained friendly with Minutemen [[Mike Watt]] and [[George Hurley]], who would go on to form Firehose with singer/guitarist [[Ed Crawford]].

==Reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1      = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r7258}}</ref>
| rev2 = [[Robert Christgau]]
| rev2score = B<ref name="christgau">{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|title=Firehose: If'n|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=4788|accessdate=May 7, 2019}}</ref>
}}
Critical reviews of ''If'n'' were mostly positive, describing the album as more focused than Firehose's debut.
[[Robert Christgau]] said the band "sound more like a regular rock band" on this album.<ref name="christgau"/> A review in ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' said "''If'n'' realizes the promise of their auspicious debut, ''[[Ragin', Full On]]'', and ups the ante, proving once and for all that these dudes live in the shadow of no one."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dougan|first=John|title=Firehose - If'n|journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|page=21|volume=4|number=1|date=April 1988|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdiXT9xoRXQC&q=%22If%27n%22+firehose&pg=PA21|access-date = May 7, 2019}}</ref>

==Track listing==
#"Sometimes"
#"Hear Me"
#"Honey, Please"
#"Backroads"
#"From One Cums One"
#"Making the Freeway"
#"Anger"
#"For the Singer of R.E.M."
#"Operation Solitare"
#"Windmilling"
#"Me & You, Remembering"
#"In Memory of [[Elizabeth Cotten]]"
#"Soon"
#"Thunder Child"

==Personnel==
* [[Ed Crawford]] – [[singing|vocals]], [[electric guitar|guitar]]
* [[George Hurley]] – [[drums]]
* [[Mike Watt]] – vocals, [[bass guitar|bass]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Firehose}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Firehose (band) albums]]
[[Category:1987 albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Spot (producer)]]
[[Category:SST Records albums]]