Review: Blitzen Trapper - Furr

I got this record in the mail yesterday from Sub Pop (a whole one day before the release!). I was already familiar with the record since the album was streaming from the band's Myspace (It isn't any longer, but you can stream it from AOL). I only recently got into Blitzen Trapper. I was familiar with their 2007 release Wild Mountain Nation. Since becoming addicted to the first single "Furr", I have seen them live twice and fell in love with their live show. Furr is their first release for the Seattle institution Sub Pop.

Blitzen Trapper's music is hard to describe. They draw comparisons to alternative country acts like Wilco and Drive-By Truckers, but they are not afraid to change styles track to track and sometimes in the middle of tracks. They inject a healthy dose of country twang into many tracks on this album. "Stolen Shoes & a Rifle" could be considered a straight forward country song by anyone from Nashville, and a good one at that. "Not You Lover" could be an outtake from After The Gold Rush.

Blitzen Trapper is at their best on this album when their influences aren't as easily discernable. "Saturday Nite" is a funky ditty with lyrics about "shakin' it on a saturday nite". Electric keyboard breaks and classical guitar interludes emphasize the point. "God & Suicide" has a driving piano beat backed up by a Ray Manzarek style keyboard line.

As much as Blitzen Trapper is great at writing powerful head-bobbing songs, the high points of this albumare when they slow it down. These are where vocalist Eric Earley's lyrics shine through. The first single "Furr" tells the story of boy turning into a wolf and back again with the help of folky guitars and a harmonica. This is my song of the year right now. The lyrics on "Black River Killer" could have been stolen straight out of Johnny Cash's diary.

"It was just a little while past the sunset strip, they found the girl's body in an old bent pit. Her mouth was sewn shout, but her eyes were still wide, gazing through the fog to the other side.

They booked me on in and threw me deep in jail, with no bail, sitting silent on a rusty pail, just gazing at the marks on the opposite wall, remembering the music of my lover's call."

Drew Laughery and Marty Marquis's keyboards are the driving force behind every song. They take the chorus of "Black River Killer" and make it their own. The lyrics on this album can change from catchy and fun to haunting song to song.

Highs: "Furr", "Black River Killer", "God & Suicide", "Saturday Nite"
Lows: "Fire & Fast Bullets", "Lady on the Water"

Mp3: "Furr"

Rating: 8.6