Handsome Furs: Face Control A-

[Guest Review - Europpraiser]

This isn’t how every band starts out. He’s a starving musician, she’s a self-published (starving as well) short story writer. They meet at the day-job, working as telemarketers in Montreal, selling business directories over the phone. In 2005 his band Wolf Parade signs with Sub Pop Records and he parlay’s that into a record deal for his “side project” formed with his new fiancé. So goes the story of Dan Boeckner & Alexei Perry; now married with their second full length release as the Handsome Furs. Click below for more:

The sound of the Handsome Furs is kind of new wave drum machine meets post-punk guitar, in easily digestible three minute pop songs. Simple enough, right? They aren’t into anthems or ballads; that’s left to Coldplay and U2. For musicians like Dan Boeckner, ballads are songs for the weak, those who don’t have stomach for the fight. And anthems are considered over-written, over-produce and totally contrived. Boeckner explains the sound himself - “We wanted to make these songs as full as possible with the least amount of equipment so it would just be the two of us, a drum machine, a keyboard and a guitar.” The songs are pretty formulaic. A handsome Furs song is quite distinctive from other bands. They have a melodic addictive quality that’s difficult to explain. Something grabs you, and the song must be heard over and over (ask Dentist). Boeckner’s voice finishes off the sound with a strained combativeness that’s still quite casual in delivery.

Face Control is a bit more aggressive in tone as compared to the first cd Plague Park. The beats are more complex, quite Depeche Mode-ish. Boeckner’s voice and guitar are both more prominent and carry more weight. The guitar is bit heavier and thicker, unlike the first cd, which has a cleaner more crystalline sound. Like Plague Park, Face Control is still quite melodic and catchy. Lyrically, it’s much of the same. There’s still a nihilistic “what’s the use, this ships going down” mentality. All of the songs were written in Russia and other iron curtain countries. Face Control is the nickname of a doorman at a Moscow nightclub. So there’s an eastern-block inspiration here for sure. This is probably most evident in Talking Hotel Arbat Blues, which starts off with –

“We were standing in the center of the occupation
Caught between the ground & the grey grey sky
Baby got a little bit of bad information
Baby take a number, baby wait in line”

You probably won’t be hearing the Handsome Furs on the radio, outside of college towns anyway. But Face Control is definitely worth checking out. It will be in my rotation for several months to come. There isn’t a “hit” on this cd, just 38 minutes that must be listened to again and again.

If you like the Handsome Furs, check out Wolf Parade and The Sunset Rubdown, you might try early Clinic as well.