Its Been Hard to Miss Matt and Eleanor Friedberger in 2004, Following the Universal Critical Acclaim of the Debut "Gallowsbird's Bark". Whether it Be the Music Press, Style Mags Or Broadsheets, their Band, the Fiery Furnaces have Caught the Imagination of the Nation's Tastemaker Journalists. Coupled with Tours with Franz Ferdinand and Hot Hot Heat, plus Live Gigs and Sessions on Radio One, Bbc6 and Xfm, the Band have Been Continuously Building their Profile and Fanbase. This Album is a Collection of their More 'pop' Moments and is a Taster for Where the Band Are Heading with their Next Album.
Review by Heather Phares
An EP virtually in name only, the Fiery Furnaces' B-sides collection is pretty generous, gathering ten tracks and running 41 minutes (which is relatively short compared to their 80-minute epic, Blueberry Boat). It's not a totally complete collection of their odds 'n' sods, which may frustrate fans still looking for the band's cover of the Clash's "One More Time" that appeared on Uncut Magazine's tribute to the legendary punks, or for the honky tonk-inspired version of "We Got Back the Plague" that appeared on the CD release of the U.K. Tropical Ice-Land single. However, what does appear on EP not only reflects how well the Furnaces' B-sides complement their albums, it also makes an enjoyable and fairly coherent mini-album in its own right. The Blueberry Boat-era material is particularly remarkable, offering a more concise, poppier spin on the album's sprawling sound. The adaptation of the traditional "Single Again" was Blueberry Boat's putative single, since the album's suite-like songs weren't exactly chart-friendly; its menacing yet playful synth intro echoes the album's feel, but the song's energy has some of the headlong rush of their earlier work. Its B-side, "Evergreen," is just as whimsical but surprisingly sweet and pretty; along with the gorgeous new track "Here Comes the Summer" -- which makes waiting for summer seem better than the real thing -- it's one of the band's most emotionally direct songs. "Sing for Me" is another delight: with its tale of a seafaring father and his daughter waiting at home, it's a charming reminder that the Fiery Furnaces are just as handy with short stories as they are with novels. In the context of this collection, the hyper-pop version of "Tropical Ice-Land" sounds less startling than it did following Gallowsbird's Bark; the rest of the B-sides from that album's singles are weirder and more fractured, and, especially in the case of the cryptic, loose-limbed "Cousin Chris" and the elaborate storytelling of "Smelling Cigarettes," feel a bit like dress rehearsals for Blueberry Boat's expansiveness. The previously unreleased "Sullivan's Social Slub" takes the band's playful side to an extreme, distilling the Furnaces' penchant for whimsical wordplay, abundant alliteration, and unexpected musical twists and juxtapositions into caricature (but not in a bad way). Based on EP, it's easy to see why hardcore fans think that some of the band's best material is on its B-sides. Though the Fiery Furnaces are a very distinctive-sounding band, they're a versatile one too, and this collection shows, once again, how cleverly they mix their pop and experimental impulses.
Fiery Furnaces
EP
[Rough Trade/Sanctuary; 2005]
Rating: 8.9
Okay, I'm done being a nice guy about this: If you don't like Blueberry Boat, I don't like you. It's no longer a matter of taste, other than the fact that I have good taste, whereas you, Fiery Furnaces-hater, do not. Don't have time to take in the full sweeping grandeur of Blueberry Boat's 80 minutes? I have no respect for your calendar priorities. To those who find their multiple-movement symphonies and keyboard-fetish arrangements overcooked, I feel only loathing, utter disdain, and approximately one tablespoon of pity! And for the few of you that cannot handle the frenetic uber-medley that is a Fiery Furnaces live set, I want to make provocative documentary films about your inept and offensive taste and take them on the festival circuit.
But if my depraved fanboy rants and threats don't convince you, this here spartanly-titled EP just might. Dare you infidels bear witness as this collection of the Furnaces' assorted table scraps easily outshines most bands' main course? Not content to merely isolate the most accessible tune from their long players and ship a CD-R out to campus hundred-watts, Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger are prolific vinyl-pressers, releasing new or reinterpreted material betwixt and in conjunction with their albums. EP does the Soulseek virtual crate-digging for Furnaces devotees, collecting most of these odds and sods while wisely catching amnesia on their less-collectible Clash and Fall covers.
I know of some misguided souls who find that the accoutrements of Blueberry Boat's three-ring concept album circus overwhelm any songcraft talents the siblings Friedberger originally exhibited on Gallowsbird's Bark, and for these people my hatred burns only slightly less bright. Nevertheless, EP starts off with a trilogy of tunes that should lay this ridiculous claim to rest, restoring their most recent single to its original director's cut. Running a little over 10 minutes, the suite simultaneously reminds the doubters of the Furnaces' considerable pop abilities, while not compromising on the Casio blitzes or thematic density of more recent work.
If "Single Again", in a slightly expanded take, remains a bit cold in with its jump-rope chant refrain and stiff drums, reinstated bridge "Here Comes the Summer", is the perfect thaw, showcasing the duo's deft hand with electronic rhythms, guitar pedals, and swooning melodies. "Summer" seasonally segues into "Evergreen", the band's sweetest ballad to date, and the first that comes close to making the Carpenters comparisons more than just commentary on the Friedberger's slightly creepy sibling dynamics.
There's enough to digest in that opening salvo to fulfill the effort's modest title, but there's still a half-hour smattering of B-sides and remakes for dessert. A few ("Duffer St. George", "Smelling Cigarettes") swerve towards the ADD collage style of Blueberry Boat's longer tracks, telling similarly intricate stories of infidelity, drinking, and gallivanting around London. Matthew's imaginary Cockney accent takes the lead more often than on the full-lengths, whether on the tongue-twisting sea shanty of "Cousin Chris" or the Bowie piano-rock of "Sing for Me".
Meanwhile, the complete reconstruction of "Tropical Ice-land" featured here is a taste of the band's Dylan-like compulsion to perennially revise the back catalog, expanding the sing-songy original in every direction, right down to a wonderfully gratuitous backwards-vocal verse. In the end, it's perhaps this quality of perpetual evolution, best exemplified by their delirious live shows, that has me drawing Fiery Furnaces logos on my All-Stars-- few other bands of the indie world seem to have such mercurial aspirations.
EP then comes off like a quick appendix to the band's work so far, concentrating their strengths in parts while elsewhere lovingly dumping the stray ideas that may not fit into their next conceptual flight. That it still manages to skirt the hazards of being a for-fan's-only release only deepens my stalker-love, not to mention the accompanying abhorrence for all who don't see the light. Honestly, how do you people wake up in the morning; you pathetic, mouth-breathing [the remaining 1,000 words of diatribe deleted by Pitchfork editors, who cordially apologize to the readership for Mr. Mitchum's unfortunate outburst -Ed.]
-Rob Mitchum, January 12, 2005
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