The Fiery Furnaces - 'EP' (Rough Trade)
4/5
By: Toby L
Loopier than mangos, The Fiery Furnaces have carved somewhat of a name for their unbridled, oft psychedelic-via-Beefheart eccentricity. Featuring a frigid-seeming pairing of introvert siblings - Eleanor and Matt - they've been branded the modern-day Carpenters, but - truly - were Karen and Richard ever that creepy?
We'll give you a clue: no. No, they weren't. Though they were a bit. Whatever, they certainly didn't write of icelands - or icy lands, rather - based in 'tropical' climes. Or pen a song hopefully entitled 'Here Comes The Summer', which actually ends up almost heart-breaking in its sombre piano tinkling and Klaus Wunderlich-worthy synth disruption. Or ever pen lines such as 'He beat me/He banged me/I wish I was single again.'
Yet, in spite of all this, 'EP' is supposedly a dip into the more accessible furrows of Matt and Eleanor. And though compared to their trippy, dippy, mildly sicky albums, this reins true, each of the ten tracks still lilts on the right side of jilt. Sample 'Evergreen' - like Super Furry Animals without an uplifting chorus, or The Flaming Lips-ish waltz of 'Sing For Me', let alone 'Smelling Cigarettes'. Shit, that last title in itself should give you some indication of where all this is heading.
But for all the fervent obscurity, there's a twee sweetness ('Cousin Chris'; 'Sweet Spots'), confirming that The Fiery Furnaces are the truly honest, bittersweet bizarre... 'EP': for all those that crave their weird robot-indie on a far more palatable platter, but still - confusingly - want that defining, slanted, slightly unsettling edge. It'll reward you in time.
Artists in this article: The Fiery Furnaces
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