February 24, 2004

Fiery Furnaces

The Fiery Furnaces were the headline act at the Garage tonight. This duo has loads of talent and an unpredictable sound. The quirky piano and story-line lyrics remind me of Elvis Costello or, dare I say it, Sparks. But the sound is much more hard-hitting rock, sometimes psychadellic, sometimes blues and sometimes electronic-pop. It's a brother and sister out of New York who reportedly grew up in Oak Park Illinois. She does vocals and guitar, he does piano and guitar. After the show, I checked the Internet to verify that they were indeed from the States, lest I have another Alabama 3 revelation. I heard a lyric about walking along Regents Canal. Turns out she spent some time in London and many of the lyrics are from her travelog. Their sound and lyrics gave me the sense that they've experienced a lot of life's harsher realities at a young age.