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Dan Boeckner’s real problem I think is more about his affiliation with one of my favourite bands, Wolf Parade. He’s consistently lumped with Spencer Krug as a measuring stick, and that just isn’t fair. The Handsome Furs are a two piece band with Boeckner’s wife (Alexei Perry – let’s not forget that her contribution to the band is very important) and they just use a synthersizer/drum machine with Dan’s guitar work.

The Handsome Furs were actually the first band I saw live, opening for the Arcade Fire. They were good but unspectacular in my fuzzy memory, just like their debut album Plague Park. I dug a few songs off that record but one of the weaknesses of Plague Park was that, it refused to be spectacular. Lyrically and musically it felt like it was satisfied with itself and never really progressed into something spectacular – thus it could be considered boring which some critics did.

On Face Control, the band has made huge strides on their sound. On this record, it doesn’t feel like it’s hindered by just have two members. It’s more ambitious and lyrically it takes a step forward in all directions. The major difference for me, is the quality of the best tracks of the album (which Plague Park did produce quite a lot of). They surpass the level easily and the best tracks never become stale that I can listen to it for 50-100 times. It’s pretty evident as a whole in Dan Boeckner’s vocals, the variation in music and lyrically. Boeckner no longer has the plague but rather has so much more control on this record like he does on his songs with Wolf Parade. There’s just so much more range with the vocals, musically it could still be danceable but now there’s more variation and they aren’t afraid to change the beat or add in a raging guitar riff. It’s just much more powerful I find.

Some portions of the album DO fall back on old habits, becoming boring at times. Those moments are rare but it still did hurt parts of the album such as flow and my ultimate liking of this album as a whole. However, I have to say that some songs are just way too good to ignore. Basically, the Handsome Furs have taken a leap forward on this record and while it’s not there yet in terms of “masterpiece” or best of the year nods…it’s a decent record to find solid singles on.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Thanks to a friend, I found out that “Nyet Spasiba” translates into “No Thank You”. Face Control is a solid record at the end of the day. Talking Hotel Arbat Blues and Nyet Spasiba are my favourite tracks while, I’d probably do away with at least the instrumental “(Passport Kontrol)”.

Nyet Spasiba by The Handsome Furs
Talking Hotel Arbat Blues by The Handsome Furs

NYE by Dinosaur Bones

Now to clear something up, I had said that the acoustics at the ‘Shoe aren’t the greatest and I stand by that comment. It does depend, like with a lot of venues, on how many people are there and where you are standing/sitting. I have been to shows there where the sound is really, really good and where it’s been really, really bad. When I go in to listen for a band, I walk around looking for the best spot to get the best sound. Sometimes that’s by the sound board and sometimes not, every place has a sweet spot, Massey Hall’s is six rows back dead centre, the ‘Shoes seems to be more in the middle, although last night it was by the bar. However, standing by the bar to listen to a band is a fools game because the crowd talk will always drown them out. So I spent most of the night standing in the crowd and still missing out because of the incessant talking.

The second band of the night was Daniel Wesley. He played an interesting mix of bluesy rock/raggae. He is music is instantly likeable and very danceable. Wesley has a natural, warm tenor which the crowd appreciated and the band managed to convey a big sound with lots of texture. The songs have interesting melodies which at times reminded me a bit of Little Feat/Llowel George and with the ska/raggae bass lines and rocky guitar they really had my toes tapping. The crowd, not fully with him in the beginning, were happily toe-tapping by the end. My only complaint, and it is a constant one with most bands, is a lack of presence on stage. You don’t have to jump around to engage an audience but a bit of eye contact would be good. Now, I’m short and I was standing in the middle of the crowd so I was disadvantaged and he may have oozed charisma but I didn’t feel it. Stand out song was “Oooh-oooh” with it’s Coldplay-like intro and definite Bob Marley influenced melody.

Radio by Daniel Wesley

The Bicycles are a very likeable band with solid harmonies and shared lead vocals. The songs are all happy, bouncy danceable tunes that really had the crowd hopping. By far they were the audience favourite to this point. The overall tone of their music is like Broken Social Scene and Feist-like melodies but they venture into The Shirelles, Lou Reed, and Weezer territory at times. Unfortunately for me this was the one band I ended up listening to near the bar so social conversation was rampant. When I was in with the crowd near the end the talk was sporadic and the crowd seemed to be really enjoying themselves. For anyone wishing to check them out, I have bad news, this was likely their last gig as Exclaim! reports that The Bicycles have gone on the dreaded “extended hiatus” which we all know is code for “broken up” (myspace blog on this)

What A Fool by The Bicycles

Human Highway was next up and although I hadn’t changed positions (back to standing near the middle), at times I could barely hear them. The crowd by now was near capacity, I’m sure most were waiting for The Handsome Furs. Their 50’s style blues/rock was lost on the crowd and many just stopped paying attention. The songs themselves were good with lovely Everly Brothers-like harmonies. At times their songs reminded me of Simon & Garfunkel. The best song of their set was a more contemporary sounding song called “Moody Motorcycle”. It was far better live than on their Myspace. A very fresh sound which stopped the crowd mid-sentence and illicited the best response all night. It made me wonder if they should ditch their 50’s sound and go for a rockier, newer sound. The band was tight with not a wrong note and the vocals were pleasant but really shone in harmony. It will be a while before you can check them out, however, as they are touring for the next couple of weeks and maybe beyond.
(ed. note half of Human Highway is Nick Thorburn of band Islands, funny how they paired Human Highway with the Handsome Furs)

The Sound by Human Highway

The Handsome Furs were the band of the night. I think this is who the crowd was waiting for as I almost got killed in the crush to the front of the stage. I ended up sitting, yes sitting, by the sound board so that I could at least take a few notes. Being short, there really was no point in standing in the middle of the crowd and getting beer poured down my back. As it was, I did get to stand on the bench and see a bit of the show. And it was a great one. The crowd was very into them right from the beginning. The electrobeat made you dance whether you wanted to or not and the drum machine had my solar plexus feeling like it was whirling around in a blender. Good stuff! It also did the one thing that nothing else had all night, it shut the crowd up either that or it drowned them out.

Going over my sparse notes, I see that they had a Joy Division-type sound with some Depeche Mode thrown in but overall they have a sound uniquely their own. You might know Dan Boeckner from Wolf Parade but with his wife, author Alexei Perry, he has carved a sound that stands up to the best from the electropop crowd. I have to say that this is the one of the first times that I was paying more attention to the band instead of hastily scribbling notes. They are a seriously good band and the audience appreciated the fact. Even in the people in the back 40 where I was, were dancing. When a band can reach the very back of a venue and make people pay attention then you know you are on to something.

If you haven’t seen them live, it looks like you will have to wait a long time before you get a chance. A brief perusal of their tour dates shows an extensive tour of Europe and the U.S. until the end of June. I hope the people in Zagreb are as enthusiastic about the Furs as the crowd here in Toronto was last night.

Handsome Furs Hate This City by Handsome Furs

I’m pretty excited and I hope MMA finally gets approved in the province of Ontario so we can get a event here in Toronto. Either way, I hope UFC comes back soon. I’ll be making picks in addition to having a tribute mp3 to the main card fighters.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra

1. Midnight Surprise by Lightspeed Champion
-Can Matt Serra pull off the 2nd upset?
2. Frenchy’s By Holy Fuck
-Calling GSP Frenchy insulted him big time
3. Home Field Advantage by Drive-by Truckers
4. If I Faltered Slightly Twice by Of Montreal
-Georges is too good, everyone or almost everyone has St. Pierre taking this one easily. When the pressure is on GSP performs.

Winner: Georges St. Pierre in 5 round round war. I love Matt Serra as well to be honest and he has world class skill and will frustrate St. Pierre at times. It may be boring….

Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy
5. Sing! Captain by The Handsome Furs
- For Charles “Captain Miserable” McCarthy
6.Everything is Average Nowadays by the Kaiser Chiefs
-For Michael Bisping getting mad that McCarthy called him average, such a huge insult.

Winner: Bisping by 2nd round TKO. Rooting for McCarthy though.

Rich Franklin vs Travis Lutter
7. Don’t Weigh Me Down by Broadcast 2000
- Lutter better make weight, he didn’t against Anderson Silva when he had a title shot on the line.
8. Can’t Lose by We Are Scientists
Franklin’s career can probably take only one more loss.

Winner: Travis Lutter by Armbar in Round 3. Picking an upset here.

A pretty weak card but I’m going to see this one anyway because it’s in Canada. The Montreal crowd should make this an event to watch (I envy their atmosphere).

There are probably 50 or so bands I’d like to see and while it feels dumb to list them in between the middle of the festival, a lot of blogs have taken a backburner and the promotional companies all seem to be quiet (times like these I miss the spamming).

Here the bands I’ve would’ve liked to see:
Simian Mobile Disco, Lightspeed Champion, White Williams, Okkervil River, Division Day, Shearwater, Peter Moren, A Place To Bury Strangers, Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden, Die! Die! Die!, Jens Lekman, Islands, J. Tillman, Emmy The Great, Evangelicals, Black Mountain, Holy Fuck, Vampire Weekend, Shapes Have Fangs, Fleet Foxes, Blitzen Trapper, Handsome Furs, Crystal Castles, Headlights, Shout Out Louds, The Raveonettes, Why?, Los Campesinos! and more I’d be iffy about.

Here’s my playlist:

Crimewave by Crystal Castles
Hearts of Iron by The Handsome Furs
Two Step Forwards by Emmy The Great
Innocent Son by The Fleet Foxes
Unless It Kicks by Okkervil River
Stormy High by Black Mountain
Streams of Whiskey by The Shout Out Louds feat. The Essex Green
That Great Love Sound by The Raveonettes
The Pulse by Holy Fuck
Country Caravan by Blitzen Trapper
2007, The Year Punk Rock Broke (My Heart) by Los Campesinos!

I actually hated doing this list…not that it was subpar but I think I would’ve felt better doing a review today. Just no writing quality in putting out this list though it’s great for traffic bait.

25. She’s a Rejector by Of Montreal (link)
24. Patty Lee by Les Savy Fav (link)
23. Open Doors by Josh Ritter (link)
22. White Dove by John Vanderslice (link)
21. Handsome Furs Hate This City by The Handsome Furs
20. Weekend Without Makeup by The Long Blondes (link)
19. Meat Market by Everybody Else (link)
18. 1234 by Feist
17. Wolf and Crane by Siberian (link)
16. Walcott by Vampire Weekend
15. Fluorescent Adolescent by The Arctic Monkeys
14. Apartment Story by The National (link)
13. Red Rabbits by The Shins
12. Impossible by The Shout Out Louds
11. Right Moves by Josh Ritter (link)
10. Up On Your Leopard, Upon The End of Your Feral Days by Sunset Rubdown (link)
9. (Antichrist) Television Blues by The Arcade Fire (link)
8. Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider by Of Montreal (link)
7. Unless It Kicks by Okkervil River (link)
6. Back in Your Head by Tegan & Sara
5. The Mending of the Gown by Sunset Rubdown
4. Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend
3. Once and Never Again by The Long Blondes (link)
2. Mistaken For Strangers by The National
1. Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe by Okkervil River (link)