They Can Live With “God & Suicide,” But You Can’t Live Without This
Portland-based sextet gives experimental folk fans another one to love.
Blitzen Trapper
Furr
Released on Sep 23, 2008
I’m not an outdoorsy person. I’ve never spent the night in a tent, nor have I ever graced the mess hall of any summer camp. While I may not have a penchant for nature, I always get faux nostalgic when the end of summer comes around. Maybe it’s because of all the residual bonfire smell in the air, but I crave a certain kind of music during this time of year. It needs to be heavy on guitar, with smatterings of banjo and tambourine. Pretty much anything that sounds like it could be recreated while sitting on a log is good for these couple of weeks.
Thankfully, Blitzen Trapper’s latest album came just in time. It’s the perfect end-of-summer/transition into fall disc. Also, it really makes me want to pitch a tent and teach myself how to play the harmonica. Well done, boys! To be honest though, classifying this is as a camping album hardly does it justice. This folk sextet has a real gift for storytelling - these eloquent songs verge on fables. Combine that with tight instrumentation that still manages to sound improvised on certain parts, and you’ve got a band with a solid sense of who they are.
The album opens with “Sleepytime in the Western World,” a song that showcases Eric Earley’s vocals right off the bat. This boy knows how to belt out a song, and his voice has such a rallying quality that you can’t help but join in on the chorus about a “love so true/it’s gonna see me through.” While this song in particular begs for multiple karaoke renditions, all of the tracks are so down-to-earth that you end up singing along after listening to the song a few times. Striking a balance between accessible songs and well-written ones can be difficult, but Blitzen Trapper does it with ease. The title track of the album is by far the most mythical song, lyrically speaking, but the simple guitar and harmonica parts allow the story to be the main focus.
They pull off the same feat on “Black River Killer”- wherever the lyrics are denser, they scale back the musical aspect, leaving only sparse guitars and percussion. This song stands out because it sounds like a track Johnny Cash would have written. It’s no “Folsom Prison Blues,” but Earley’s voice has an excellent twang to it, and you believe him when he sings that he “knows just what it takes/ to pull a man’s soul back from heaven’s gates.” If a band can emulate an iconic style without putting themselves to shame and embarrassing a deceased legend, they’ve achieved something great.
Thanks to my impossibly late starting date for school, summer has lasted a touch longer than I thought it would. However, as the weather finally takes a turn for the less scorching temperatures, and I drag myself back to class, I’m glad that I have Furr to ease the transition.
High Point
I love when it’s hard to pick the best song off of an album. So, instead of playing favorites, I’ll just applaud their ability to interpret folk music in different and creative ways for each song.
Low Point
Hard to find something negative about it. However, I will say that I was taken aback by the brash aesthetic of “Love U,” but once you expect it, the song gets better after a few listens.
Posted by Alyssa Vincent on Sep 12, 2008 @ 7:00 am
