The Fiery Furnaces - EP

The Fiery Furnaces
EP
Rough Trade Records
Grade: A-

If the last five songs were as good as the first five, then this would be the best record of the year. Unfortunately, that is not the case, but the Fiery Furnaces still strike brilliance on their latest EP. While this may actually be a full-length for most artists, this ten-track, forty-one minute enterprise is actually half the length of their previous – so technically an EP? After the brother-sister duo of Eleanor and Matt Friedberger struck initially magic on their debut Gallowsbird’s Bark, they were quickly back with the epic Blueberry Boat. Needless to say, the Friedbergers’ sense of epic didn’t rub everyone the right way as the thirteen-track eighty-six minute record traveled in its own world of eclectic vaudevillian folk-blues. Blueberry Boat is one of those records that critics love, but average listeners despise. Whatever the reason, the Friedbergers decided they would offer up a ‘song’-driven album to appease all pop-harmony, indie radio fans. I for one am massively appeased.

EP starts out on “Single Again” with beats and synths reminiscent of Blueberry Boat, before Eleanor comes in with vocals and entirely changes that direction – and for the better. What you realize immediately is that the Friedbergers are writing more standard numbers that only extend to a few minutes – very different from before. Taking a Johnny Cash-esque plus bluesy guitar approach, “Single Again” gets into your head with its simple creepingly, haunting lyrics. Yet, this song merely sets up one of the gems on the record – “Here Comes the Summer.” Taking their classic fusing of songs, “Here Comes the Summer” features a piano and hyper-fuzzed guitar with an unconscious riff that accentuates the dazzlingly catchy vocals by Eleanor. Her refrain of “Remember” is only rivaled by the glorious chorus where the Friedbergers take shit to the next level. Coming off such an affair is tough for any song, and such is the case for “Evergreen.” You need to get to the chorus on “Evergreen” to acknowledge the song’s quality and appeal. “Sing for Me” is the first song to feature Matt on lead vocals and includes this grandiose, 60s feel and repeated refrain of the title. The last song of this amazing opening – and probably the best, next to “Here Comes the Summer,” on the record – is “Tropical-Iceland.” You want to talk about a song that you can’t get out of your head. Holy shit, then this is it. “Tropical-Iceland” is hot fun and is characterized by Eleanor’s pronunciation of the title – Troppy-cool, Icy-land – which is the magically repeated chorus. When she belts lines like “I’ve seen enough stray ponies and puffins/To get me through till the end of May,” you are convinced this is genius. Now this review started talking about the drop-off in song quality, or at least pop-fantasia, – and it begins on the following “Duffer St. George.” Though “Duffer St. George” begins promisingly with Eleanor on vocals, it quickly becomes spoiled. The slow, eclectic nature of “Smelling Cigarettes” provides some nice moments, but there aren’t enough to salvage. “Sweet Spots” is a solid number, but you might as well divorce yourself from “Cousin Chris.” EP ends on the six-plus-minute “Sullivan’s Social Slub” where the Friedbergers focus on varying forms of keys in a mellowed manner. Through twists and turns, the song’s highlight comes on Eleanor’s singing of the line “So’s’on Saturday say slips’offs’a Sullivan’s Social Slub” – trying saying that even twice fast.

In some respects, it seems that the Friedbergers wrote the songs on EP to simply illustrate they can write some of the best indie-pop songs in the world if they really wanted to. But their interests may take them to the theatrical strand – as on Blueberry Boat. It will be interesting to see what the musical future direction of the Fiery Furnaces will be.