Furr Trapping

       Every music fan I know has a secret stash of killer band name ideas, artfully crafted throughout the years of their musical fandom. They commit the titles to memory and have them at the ready. They do this just in case a bunch of musicians approach them with the sole intention of forming a new group. This new group would have all the pieces in place, and they would be looking to you for a name and some scintillating woodblock. Thankfully, they would've come to the perfect person. I'd like to assume that's how Blitzen Trapper got their name. Sadly though, this isn't the case. Apparently, they saw it painted on the outside of an old, 70s, creeper van, which is still pretty awesome. But, screw it, I like living the lie. It gives me hope.
       I did not however, feel hope that I would someday become consumed with bands in the alt/folk/country revival scene. The country aspect was always a little too twangy, the folk side always a little too lacking in the instrumentation department.  For every Uncle Tupelo or Neil Young there were significantly more artists I couldn't take the leap with. Becoming fully engrossed with the rootsy americana funk of The Band allowed me to step out on the ledge. With the 2008 release of Furr, the fourth album from the Trapper, I was ready to do a full fledged swan dive off the cliff.
   

Carved with a craftsman hand.

      How many albums do you feel comfortable sharing with every single friend you have? Regardless of their muse, inclination or proclivity, you'd be pretty sure they would dig it. After some intense contemplation, I would have probably settled on zero if you asked me this in the past. It's just plain rare to find that middle ground that isn't too center of the road lame. Enter Furr. Opening with the carny rock galumph of "Sleepytime in the Western World", my zero gracefully ticked up to one. With swirling Garth Hudson organs, gnarly Harrison licks and the narrative timbre of Dylan, worlds melded to form something pure and new. I wanted to conceive a child on the spot just so I could play them this somewhat demented bedtime story. 

      This wondrous amalgam of styles continue throughout with "Gold for Bread", "God & Suicide" and "War on Machines", all of which add in just enough strange flourishes to prevent categorization. The oft-cited title track, "Furr" is a tour de force of storytelling. An acoustic strum and layered vocals provide the perfect backdrop for a romp through the eyes of a woodland man/beast. It's one of many instances showing the excellent lyrics crafted throughout the entire record. Another example is my first obsession, the classic murder tale, "Black River Killer". It's a Tom Petty ditty that has been sprinkled with Chronic era Dre production. Strange as that sounds, I dare you to try and avoid grooving along. I already look forward to the day when the great-grandson of Slick Rick weaves an account of ghetto misery over an extended sample. 

        Beautiful is a word that gets thrown around way too much (especially by a hyperbolic machine such as myself) but there is really no other way to quantify the acoustic guitar/piano ballads "Not Your Lover" and "Lady on the Water". They are truly beautiful. Their simplicity reminds you that with as much talent as these musicians have, the anchor is the melody and songwriting at the heart of these tunes. Each is the type of song you might use to entice your significant other into appreciating the band, only to one day realize they are now your favorite tracks. 

      Channelling The Band and showcasing their trademark versatility, funk rears its sexy head on "Saturday Night" and the "Echo/Always On/Easy Con" medley. The former uses jaunty piano and a groovy, syrupy-thick bassline to paint a background over which acoustic strums and synth flourishes dance. The latter begins as another piano ballad, then drifts into a Pink Floyd/Wizard of Oz clock homage before finally becoming the type of folk-funk that should have archivistics stumped for years to come. 

Sounds painful.

      If you become enough of a fan to immerse yourself in their (rawer) previous three albums or (more polished) three subsequent albums you may find yourself waist deep in the rabbit hole. There are so many genres and sounds they create that you can become lost in a vortex of their music, regardless of the genre or sound you are fiending for at the time. This album was the perfect entry point for me. It gave me faith that bands could still take something I didn't fully embrace (folk/country), put a modern spin on it and subsequently develop something that I couldn't get enough of throughout my multiple obsessive periods. Now, let's all grow furry beards!

    

Final Score: .95 You're Living All Over Me's