Nashville-based duo Gunslinger had potential. Their daring meter and tempo changes hinted at a band with serious ambition. But the trio says Freshwater is their final effort and that they've played their last show. Say it ain't so...

On Freshwater, founders Brian Looney (guitar) and Miles Cramer (drums) bring bassist Dallas Skare into the fold to fill the wide-open spaces between Looney's guitar licks. Like most prog rock efforts, there are portions of songs - like in "What the Groundhog Said to the Bird," clocking in at 9:20- that could have been left out. But the band, which Looney and Cramer describe as "an intermediate and learning step," seemed poised to carve a niche all its own.

On "Lexapro" and "Dark Blue Light," Gunslinger finds an identity as the bard of a post-apocalyptic High Plains Drifter. "Lexapro" employs a tinny piano, while "Dark Blue Light" features the album's only vocals to conjure a sleepy, sludgy lullaby for a lonely space cowboy. If Ennio Morricone were born 300 years from now, his music might sound like this. Both tracks contain the germ of something special, but they act as an extended intro and coda and so don't receive the exploration they're due. If this album has a single - and not many prog efforts do - it's undoubtedly "3.45," in which Cramer's snare-heavy beat simmers under Skare's throbbing bass line, creating a solid foundation that enables Looney to do his finest work on the album. (self-released)