THE FIERY FURNACES
Rehearsing My Choir
(Rough Trade)
· Old lady joins band in indie hipster shocker.
The Fiery Furnaces have never made things easy for themselves. Following their relatively straightforward debut, Gallowsbird's Bark (in some ways edging towards quirkier White Stripes territory), the siblings Friedberger (Eleanor and Matthew) threw out the rock rule book with last year's lengthy radio-unfriendly Blueberry Boat. Updating it once again, the Furnaces have enlisted their 83-year-old grandmother, Olga Sarantos on vocals, narrating an album- length biography of her life.
The term "songs" fits quite loosely here – approaching the realm of 1940s experimental radio play, Sarantos and Eleanor swap memories back and forth, filtered through the Friedbergers bratty imaginations. Eleanor's still stuffing in more words than fit on each line, while Sarantos's deep cracking voice implies the familial eccentricity runs deep.
Lambasted by most (koff koff, Pitchfork), Rehearsing My Choir is the type of record that only works when approached as a complete piece. Next to the lovely "The Garfield El," there's no real stand-alone tunes as such, but a storytelling prowess and instrumental approach unlike any other.
It's not a complete success, mind – an hour's worth of sing-speak is a challenge to get through, and considering the hooks the Friedbergers have come up with before, it's easy to assume they're saving all their best tricks for their next album (already completed and set for release early next year, record labels being the cautious beings they are).
If nothing less, Olga Sarantos is now without doubt the hippest old lady in the world.
|
Copyright ©2005 FFWD. All rights reserved.