 Face
Control
There was a time back in high school when
I was a big drum snob. If a rock song didn't have drums, but
instead depended on synths or drum machines, I wasn't havin'
it. 'Course Handsome Furs didn't exist way back then, but my
stance softened over the years and now I'm not completely at
odds with the bleep bloop attack that some indie bands lay out
there. In fact, Handsome Furs definitely put out that Soft Cell
vibe right off the bat--well if Soft Cell were thrown in a blender
with Wolf Parade. Considering
the band is one half of Wolf Parade and his wife, I suppose
that comparison is apt, but HF go for the poppier side of life,
at times sounding almost reminiscent of some 80s hits I can't
quite put my finger on--but not like the glib 80s that so many bands emulate these days, like something more raw and ultimately engaging. And very cool. |
 Sound Kapital
There was the cool 80s and then there was the lame 80s. Handsome Furs clearly aim for the former. Though, with the influx of retro-sounding bands over the last decade, who knows what constitutes modern anymore? If drum machines and synths and a vague sense of like Top Gun, Flashdance and Footloose all rolled into one are the most horrible reference points ever then you'll know how badly this stuff messes with my mind. That's because at its heart it's Americana, just shifted into the hipster world of the electronic. I do like Dan Boeckner's voice, a straight rock and roll voice nice and legible amongst the bleeps and bloops. Seriously, you could take many of the tracks on this album, put them to a drum kit, an acoustic and maybe some side percussion and a harmonica and have a John Mellencamp or Kenny Loggins comeback album! If that sounds terrible, it's not at all. It's a gnarly amalgam of the sounds I like, the sounds I used to like and the sounds I could possibly like in the future. |
Musical Connections:
Wolf Parade
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