Fiery Furnaces – Blueberry Boat
When we first heard from the Fiery Furnaces in 2003, singer Eleanor Friedberger revealed a dark secret. The only thing I surely own, she confessed on the New York duos experimental-blues debut, Gallowsbirds Bark, is a worried and troubled mind.
Blueberry Boat is proof she wasnt lying. With nearly every song a work of genre-jumping craziness, the Furnaces sophomore release is the sound of two people (Eleanor and her brother Matthew) who arent quite right in the head. Much-hyped players in the NYC underground, the Friedbergers last year seemed poised to become the next Jack and Meg. Blueberry Beat is going to convince all but their most devoted disciples to jump ship.
The siblings dont waste any time getting to the weirdness. Blueberry Boat is launched by Quay Cur, an epic, ten-minute-plus tale of anchors lost in the sea and silver lockets thrown in the briny deep. Starting out a glitch-techno, the song shapeshifts into piano-driven prog rock, breaks down into synth-spiked new wave, and then heads for the finish line as a gin-joint blues rave-up.
Quay Cur is a tip-off that the obviously ADD-afflicted Friedbergers palmed their Ritalin this time around. Hence, the morphined country of I Lost My Dog is suddenly torpedoed by bowel-rumbling drum n bass and saloon-boogie piano. And Chris Matthews is a perfectly pleasant MOR-pop tune until the brown-acid guitars blaze the way for a Broadway-musical finale.
For all-out bizarreness, nothing beats the title track: Over dink-pop piano, galloping drums, and carnival-carousel organ, Eleanor spins a dream-fever yarn about Hong Kong ports, drinking scotch on the high seas, and doing battle with beady-eyed pirates. To those who appreciate Tom Waits, the song, like the rest of Blueberry Boat, will grow more rewarding with each listen. And for those who just wont get it, its not like Eleanor Friedberger didnt warn you about her troubled mind.