Furies - "Donde Se Fabrican Las Ciudades"
(Sadness Discos 2010, Group 019)
Furies - "Donde Se Fabrican Las Ciudades"
(Sadness Discos 2010, Group 019)
From Aural Innovations #43 (October 2011)
Where Cities Are Manufactured is the English translation for the name of the debut album by Argentina's Furies. Hailing from Beunos Aires, and originally trading under the name Baseball Furies, this seven piece band has taken the best elements of such classic alternative genres as shoegaze and krautrock to create a very blissed-out collection of sublime tracks. Describing their music as a mix of psychedelic, space and krautrock, the band have chosen to avoid going down the Hawkwind space/stoner rock path, and instead reference bands like Kraftwerk, and especially Spacemen 3. Likewise, the tracks here are very much melodic compositions, rather than endless one-chord jams.
Opening track Sungaze firmly nails its shoegazing colours to the mast, with layers of effects-heavy guitar weaving in and out of echoing vocal chants. While the meaning, or indeed the language, of the lyrics is not apparent, that is not important; it is the sound of the voice that matters here. The band bring on the vocorder for F147, which sounds a lot like Spacemen 3's Honey (but in the best possible way), with its reedy old keyboard sound sending cascades of notes down its five minute duration. Despite its Spanish title, Los Enterradores harks back to the best of the Britrock era of the 1990's, like The Verve or Oasis in reflective mood and without the obnoxious attitude. Aerovedia sounds like New Order playing The Man Machine, and Scalectrix glides along on NEU!-style guitar (motorik in miniature, perhaps?). Song For Yuri evokes memories of Major Tom, and Pink Floyd's See Emily Play, particularly with its delicate Syd Barrett slide guitar. Meanwhile La Ciencia Del Manana proclaims a future that never quite happened, with its "space exploration, custom-made weather and man's triumph over the ages", with the same cheery optimism of Kraftwerk's Expo 2000. The album closes with the epic and uplifting Las Hordas, which starts off with spacey bleeps and drones, which are then joined by military drums and sheets of chiming guitar, a great way to end an excellent album. Fans of classic era psychedelia and shoegaze rock are strongly advised to check out this band.
For more information you can visit The Furies web site at: http://www.myspace.com/bfuries
Email at losfuries@gmail.com or seabposito@hotmail.com
Visit the Sadness Discos Group label web site at: http://www.sadnessdiscos.com.ar
Reviewed by Pat Albertson