Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of January 10th-16th, 2016:
Fury Things - VHS
01. Silence Is OK
02. Honest
03. Mersault
04. Bruised Fruit
05. Stitch Up
06. Some Things
07. Summer Bummer
08. Shakes
09. Bahia
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| (photo via Fury Things Bandcamp) |
Before I get into VHS, let's take a little trip in the old way-back machine. Back to the simpler times of March, 2013, when men were men, women were women, and Fury Things' song "Vapors" was given away as a Current Song Of The Day track. Back then I was reviewing these songs in my old Songs Of The Week column. Here's what I had to say about "Vapors:"
"On first listen, I did enjoy the song. The problem is that, while yes, it is a fuzzed-out, hook heavy, shoegaze pop song, it lacks the little nuances that makes those things work. A good fuzz-pop song should have something that feels found. A little guitar bit, a vocal tick, hell, even putting the guitars in either speaker of the headphones. For a good example of what I'm talking about, put on any Polara album."
Hmmmm... Not a particularly kind review, but I wrote it then and I stand by it now. However, I followed it up with this:
"Fury Things seem to have taken the approach that just turning up the volume of the guitars is enough. It's an intriguing enough sound that I'll definitely keep an eye on this band in the future. I wouldn't be surprised to find that, in two or three years time, Fury Things will look back on “Vapors” as a nice building block, but not much more."
Well, here we are two years later and I stand by that sentiment as well. In fact, reading an interview with Fury Things' singer Kyle Werstein on Sonic Bids regarding VHS I came across a similar sentiment:
"The writing process for this album was very effortless for me, since, for the first time, I felt like I actually had something to say. Until I started writing VHS while navigating the fog of post-college life, I would abstract my experiences to avoid writing about myself because I felt at odds with my own identity and importance. I still feel that way, but as I started writing the lyrics to these songs, I felt more confident in speaking specifically about what I was experiencing at that particular moment in time. It became therapeutic and cathartic. So VHS as an album is kind of my way of making peace with a number of personal demons, and all the songs on the album deal with that in a different way."
Since "Vapors" appeared on EP2, Fury Things have continued to bulk up both their sound and their songwriting. Over the course of three more EP's they grew by leaps and bounds, to the point where their last EP Saskatchewan raised their profile to the point that they were able to step into the annual Replacements Tribute show this year and tear through a set of Husker Du covers with nary a word of objection. They've been on the rise for a couple of years and people were genuinely pumped to see them.
And so we have VHS, the first full-length LP to their name and it does not disappoint. The album opens with "Silence Is OK," an ode the greatest of Minnesota traditions, keeping your problems to yourself and coping in silence. Give it a listen, though, and you'll find the band hitting all of their sweet spots:
The drums pummel, the bass grounds everything, and those layered, melodic guitars and come a long way from "Vapors." And that's all in the first 30 seconds.
In addition to streamlining their sound, the band seems to have taken a cue from their friend/spirit animal Bob Mould and put a real emphasis on writing hooks that grab you and don't let go. The verse, chorus, and lead guitar part are all distinct and all completely hummable.
When the band sticks to this formula, they're almost unstoppable. However, like most debut LPs, VHS functions both as a housecleaning and a chance to stretch out and try new things. After tearing through the first half of the LP, they offer up the palette cleansing "Stitch Up," an instrumental swimming in reverb and what backwards percussion. While the track alone doesn't offer much to enjoy, it is indicative of where the band's collective head is at. A statement that they're not content to just hammer on hooks, but rather have a sincere interest in writing an LP with mood & structure.
While "Stitch Up" acts as the "try new things" aspect of the album, Side B brings with it the "housecleaning" with the band revisiting a couple of classic tracks from their split EP with Brilliant Beast. Both "Some Things" and "Summer Bummer" offer up the best of Fury Things sound, their inclusion (especially after the experimental "Stitch Up") makes it clear that the band has a desire to put out definitive versions of their early classics and move on to the next phase of their sound. A promise they make good on almost immediately.
VHS closes with two of the best moments on the whole album. Remember up above when I said that a fuzz-pop song should have something that "feels found?" Have a listen to "Shakes:"
Now that's what I'm talking about! I promise you, nobody listened to the first 3/4 of the album and thought, "Boy, I wish they'd slow down," but my word, listen to that. The tempo changes, the acoustic strums, the drawn out hook... Nothing on VHS makes me more excited for the future of Fury Things than the structure & nuance of "Shakes."
The band closes the album with "Bahia," a more structured take on the sounds they were toying with on "Stitch Up," a slow, drifting album closer that stands as the end of the first chapter of the Fury Things story.
Where Fury Things goes from here is anybody's guess, but VHS, while both a culmination of what they've accomplished so far and an indication of where they're going, more than stands on its own merits. Fury Things have definitely made good on the potential they showed back in 2013 and you'd be a fool to bet they won't do it again.
If you'd like to check out the album for yourself, head on over the Fury Things Bandcamp page and pick it up. For the full experience I highly suggest you pick up those early EP's as well.
For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma). Previous episodes of Flatbasset Radio are archived on his Mixcloud page. Stop by Flatbasset Radio's Facebook Page & give it a "Like" if you have the time.
