Review: The Furries Impress with Lo-Fi EP ‘Flesh’

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The Furries are a post-punk, noise rock outfit that works and practices on Whidbey Island.  Flesh is their second EP on Bandcamp. Their first EP Instinct came out in January of 2016, while Flesh came out a few months later in April 2016. It was produced and mixed by guitarist and vocalist Seth Townsend-Tyers. Alexandre Duccini also plays guitar and sings, and the rhythm section is Owen Miller on drums and Emrys Harper-Peck on bass duties.

The Furries have the noise part of their description down, but they are melodic as well. They list My Bloody Valentine, Swans, Drive Like Jehu, Interpol, Queens of the Stone Age and Nine Inch Nails as influences, and the music is reflective of these influences, with vocals sounding like Lou Reed (back in his Velvet Underground days) and Ian Curtis at times. The Furries’ songs start quiet and build with dramatic heavy parts, with psychedelic and noisy guitars and churning drums and bass cascading around the songs.

The first track, “As They Say,” starts quietly but gets to the point quickly. The lyrics are poetic without being pretentious. This first song is a taste of what The Furries are all about, and it just gets better after that.

The second track is 47 seconds of guitar effects and some drums. A brief interlude into “Holograms,” my favorite song on this EP. “Holograms” has a great chorus, with some science fiction themes (“Save me from these holograms…”). The song has great backup vocals with guitars reminiscent of MBV and The Swirlies.

The last song, “Look Back,” has an interesting and progressive song structure with different phases. Foghorn sounds and rhythm guitar start the song and build into a heavy jam that sounds like The Melvins or GodHeadSilo. It’s kind of a collage of cool noises and heavy rhythms. There’s some good noise guitar on this song; it’s a great way to end this EP.

The rhythm section of the band holds it down. They are driving when they need to be. These guys provide the landscape for the guitar madness that ensues.

The Furries’ recorded sound is lo-fi, but not enough to ruin it. Recording studios and tape can be really expensive, and doing it yourself can provide some freedom to experiment more. I would love to hear The Furries on 2-inch tape.

(The Flesh EP is available on Bandcamp via a name-your-price pay model. Their first EP ‘Instinct’ is also available. Why not get both and make your own full album? A fair deal for some quality noise-rock. You can pick both up at thefurriesofficial.bandcamp.com.)

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