The Fiery Furnaces - EP
If I can offer one sentence of explanation for my seemingly illogical musical taste, it is that I'm more attracted to sounds than to songs. This is why, for instance, I find myself more interested in Jimi Hendrix and James Brown than The Beatles or Bob Dylan. It's why Sonic Youth and The Butthole Surfers are more interesting to me than Husker Du or The Replacements. Hearing a sound I've never heard before grabs me immediately and causes me to run out to the record store with money in hand. Well-crafted pop songs, on the other hand, generally take time to burrow under my skin. Sometimes a friend will make me a mixtape with a bunch of indie pop bands on it. They're the same kinds of songs that I hear all the time on college radio stations without even noticing them. Sometimes, I know that they are in fact songs I've heard on college radio stations without even noticing them. But as I listen to the tape over the course of a few weeks, they get to me, one by one, and I begin to realize their genius. (Of course, when I talk about pop songs here, I'm talking about the more sophisticated kind. Something like "We Got The Beat," or "I'm A Believer" will grab me on the first listen.)
All this is relevant to my experiencing The Fiery Furnaces EP, which I recently bought after having downloaded half the CD months ago. The songs that first grabbed me were the ones from the weird, prog-y, second half. A song like "Sullivan's Social Slub" has elements that immediately appeal to me: the dissonant piano chords, the bizarre, alliterative lyrics. But now, able to listen to the disc in it's entirety, it is the poppier first half, where the weird arrangements are applied to catchy tunes, that I'm finding myself falling for. Part of this is that the 5 songs on "side one" work together as a unit, each one strengthening the next, and in fact the first three songs are segued together into a medley.
"Single Again," the least intriguing song on the first side, is either a cover of a centuries-old folk song, or else written to sound as if it were a cover of a centuries-old folk song. It starts out with a retro-moog arrangement, then builds layers upon it as it gains in intensity. This segues into "Here Comes Summer," which sounds alot like Low/Heroes-era Bowie, and has a more winter-y feel than its title implies. The generous melody is supported by a weird, talking guitar, a perfect marriage of sound and song. This in turn segues into the incredible song "Evergreen," which I think is probably what Coldplay sounds like to people that like Coldplay.
"Sing For Me" is the trickiest song. It's the type of song that could so easily come off as obnoxious if overplayed, but they manage to approach it with a light enough touch to not overpower the listener, while still conveying the emotional power of the vague lyrics. But the last song, "Tropical Iceland," is the masterpiece, where all the band's strengths come together to form a perfect pop hit. The baroque arrangement is now careening downhill like a runaway train, and as more and more happens in the background (rococo piano, swooshing sound effects), the song seems to gain speed and threaten to fall apart. It reminds me a little of the Velvet Underground's "Ferryboat Bill." The energy is enough to make you dizzy, and the chorus is bolstered by a beat that's as pogo-able as "I Wanna Be Sedated." It's the kind of song that, when it's over, you just want to rewind and listen to again.
Paradoxically, the songs on the second half seem to suffer from being grouped together. You keep waiting for a pleasing pop hook to spring up, but it never happens. Individually, these are some great pieces of music, but back to back the approach gets old.
All this is relevant to my experiencing The Fiery Furnaces EP, which I recently bought after having downloaded half the CD months ago. The songs that first grabbed me were the ones from the weird, prog-y, second half. A song like "Sullivan's Social Slub" has elements that immediately appeal to me: the dissonant piano chords, the bizarre, alliterative lyrics. But now, able to listen to the disc in it's entirety, it is the poppier first half, where the weird arrangements are applied to catchy tunes, that I'm finding myself falling for. Part of this is that the 5 songs on "side one" work together as a unit, each one strengthening the next, and in fact the first three songs are segued together into a medley.
"Single Again," the least intriguing song on the first side, is either a cover of a centuries-old folk song, or else written to sound as if it were a cover of a centuries-old folk song. It starts out with a retro-moog arrangement, then builds layers upon it as it gains in intensity. This segues into "Here Comes Summer," which sounds alot like Low/Heroes-era Bowie, and has a more winter-y feel than its title implies. The generous melody is supported by a weird, talking guitar, a perfect marriage of sound and song. This in turn segues into the incredible song "Evergreen," which I think is probably what Coldplay sounds like to people that like Coldplay.
"Sing For Me" is the trickiest song. It's the type of song that could so easily come off as obnoxious if overplayed, but they manage to approach it with a light enough touch to not overpower the listener, while still conveying the emotional power of the vague lyrics. But the last song, "Tropical Iceland," is the masterpiece, where all the band's strengths come together to form a perfect pop hit. The baroque arrangement is now careening downhill like a runaway train, and as more and more happens in the background (rococo piano, swooshing sound effects), the song seems to gain speed and threaten to fall apart. It reminds me a little of the Velvet Underground's "Ferryboat Bill." The energy is enough to make you dizzy, and the chorus is bolstered by a beat that's as pogo-able as "I Wanna Be Sedated." It's the kind of song that, when it's over, you just want to rewind and listen to again.
Paradoxically, the songs on the second half seem to suffer from being grouped together. You keep waiting for a pleasing pop hook to spring up, but it never happens. Individually, these are some great pieces of music, but back to back the approach gets old.
posted by Chris Oliver at 11:15 AM
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