Matt Friedberger is a pleasure to talk to. Always joking, occasionally self-deprecating, it's his warmth that comes through over the phone. And it's this goofy friendliness that draws people to his band's music. The Fiery Furnaces are one of the most experimental bands recording today, but their songs emphasize playfulness over art. Their last album, Blueberry Boat, was the surprise critical smash of the summer.
Except with NME---Britain's Tiger Beat of rock 'n' roll. NME ranks them a one out of 10, and of course, that's the review Friedberger mentions. \They said it was the most annoying record ever made-which is a big compliment. It's not the most annoying record ever made; it's not that interesting to be the most annoying record ever made. I wish it was as weird as that.""
Blueberry Boat is well interesting enough to be the most annoying album of all time. Fortunately for Matt and his lead singer sister Eleanor, the things that might have made it abrasive ended up boosting it to brilliance. Piano parts from the Beatles' most surreal dreams, tempo shifts and fluttering around the scale at almost reckless speeds, the Fiery Furnaces took elements that would turn off many listeners and created an album that will thrill even more. The more they annoyed one group of people, the greater success they became.
The Furnaces will return to the studio in January to build upon the success of Blueberry Boat and continue their breakneck pace of a release each year since last year's debut. Next, they'll record a double-concept double-album. The first disc will feature duets with the Friedbergers' grandmother; the second will star Eleanor as a Chinese detective.
""On the first album Eleanor sings all the young person's dreams, and our grandmother sings all the disappointments that happen. The music for that is all complicated and the songs all come back and forth. On the second, it's all two-and-a-half minute tunes. I'm not sure whether it's a bunch of different stories, or one story, or how they relate,"" Friedberger describes.
The albums produce an interesting dichotomy, one which the band planned on. ""I wanted a light subject with the detective story,"" Friedberger says. ""We thought it thought it would be fun. I think a detective story would be the exact opposite of a ponderous rock opera. It will be a great complement to the grandmother thing which will be very heavy, sappy and mean.""
Their grandmother has never been recorded before, but is far from a novice. A choir director at a church on the west side of Chicago and its organ player since 1989, she might be the strongest musician in the family.
Of course that doesn't mean there isn't a rift between the musical generations of Friedbergers. ""She liked our album a lot, but she's very critical. Other people in our family will call it 'great, great, great' but she'll ask ""Why did you put that here? She thinks the singing is poor, which is right. Our singing is very poor.""
But as strange as a double album about aging and Chinese detectives, and as impressive as Blueberry Boat was, both pale in comparison to the Furnaces' live show, an hour-long set with no breaks in the music. They mix together their catalogue without stopping. No applause until the end, no breaks for water. No clear-cut time for audience members to escape to the bathroom. Not even a break when band members move from one instrument to another.
""Other people have to cover you while you switch,"" Friedberger explains. ""It makes it a lot more fun to play. Mistakes in rock music are mostly concentration mistakes, because you never actually play anything hard, physically. If you concentrate more because the show is harder you'll make mistakes and if something is easy your mind will wander, and you'll still mess up. So you might as well play something fun.""
The Fiery Furnaces bring this hour-long marathon to Madison September 19. Their double album is due in May, and Friedberger has high hopes
""Hopefully we can get zero out of 10 with that record.\
