EP Review: S/T – FUR
Two years ago, Fur founders Ryan O’Rourke and Michael O’Conner began building the band out of its noise-pop origins. They took years of recordings and began crafting a sound. Wallowing through hissing drum loops and dissonant guitar tracks, they assembled what they wanted to unveil to the public. With drummer Zach Pliska joining the line-up, they set out to play the Detroit scenes. After certain modifications and a year of playing out, they decided to scrap the entirety of their songs and start over again.
Heading out to Tempermill studios in Ferndale, Fur began recording their new self-titled EP. With the addition of Johanna Champagne playing keyboards, they recorded three songs. I would like to state here that if this is what they have produced so far, I am thoroughly looking forward to their follow-up EP that will be out this summer.
The EP is very consistent in texture and tone, carrying throughout a pop sensibility hidden behind a postpunk veneer. The minor-chord-happy songwriting is strong, not meandering too long in any spots for the melody to break down. At many times, the one-string guitar melody accentuates the progression of the songs, like in Foxtrotsky (A great name, although it is not a fox, a foxtrot, nor a foxy Trotsky) where the vocals recede and the twangy melody climbs up and down the scale just as the other guitars crescendo into the payoff.
Smartly placed dissonant guitars and shoegazey vocals are blended into the whole of the music which adds an enjoyable layering wall of sound. The vocals are not the focus any more than the guitars are the complete sound. The experimental elements are not overdone making it very accessible and instantly gratifying. This EP creates a feeling of rushing towards obscured providence in a car with no headlights in the darkest part of night…and you can dance to it.
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